Google Initiates Shutdown of Failed Social Media Platform Google+

Google+ is history.

(Photo: The Quint)

Google has officially began to bring down the curtains on its social networking attempt Google +.

A Google spokesperson told The Verge on Tuesday, 2 April, that the shutdown is underway.

Google+, although never exactly a successful platform, was marred by two major data leaks, potentially exposing data of tens of millions of users to outside developers.

One leak that was kept secret for months, and the another one which leaked the data of 52.5 million people, prompted Google to prepone the shutdown by four months.

In both the cases, Google said there’s been no evidence that developers were aware of these bugs or took advantage of them.

Google has, on multiple occasions, acknowledged that Google+ has not been able to meet the expectations. In a blog post in October, Google's Ben Smith wrote that 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds long.

(With inputs from The Verge)