The many annoying ways that Google is urging users to post to Google+

Yesterday, Google announced its intention to close the consumer version of Google+ after the discovery of a security breach not disclosed before. Launched in June 2011, Google+ was Google's most ambitious attempt to create a social networking platform. It quickly gained millions of users, but when usage slowed down, Google integrated Google+ into countless services, pushing users to join and use the network, which they want it or not.

It never really took off and in 2015, the company announced its intention to remove Google+ in its products. Today, even Google recognizes that Google Google+ has "little use and commitment" and that 90% of Google+ user sessions last less than five seconds. But there was a time when Google desperately wanted to improve that figure by integrating Google+ with everything it could. Now that the social network is dying, here is an overview of the many methods used by Google to force users to use Google+.

Youtube

This is perhaps the best-known example of forced use of Google+. In 2013, YouTube announced that users would be required to use their Google+ account to leave comments on the platform. To go even further, the comments section would also reflect some Google+ details, such as privacy settings and messages you might want to see.

In addition, comments posted on a YouTube video would, by default, also appear on your Google+ profile, unless manually unchecked. People … were not happy. Two years later, in 2015, the company removed Google+ from YouTube, stating, "A Google Account will be enough to share content, communicate with contacts, create a YouTube channel, etc. in Google."

Gmail

In late 2011, Google changed the registration process for Gmail, making it virtually impossible to register a Google account without opening a Google+ profile. Since the new sign-up screen does not include the "ignore Google+" option, the only way to create a Google Account without a Google+ profile is to close the browser tab in the middle of the process. registration, then open another Google page. and connect. "Quickly and easily creating a Google Account and Google Profile allows new users to take advantage of everything Google can offer," said a company representative Ars Technica in 2012.

Soon after, brands and businesses can highlight their Google+ pages and content directly in Gmail inboxes. Then, in 2014, Google integrated "Email via Google+" with Gmail, allowing all social network users to send messages to your Gmail inbox. That same year, he unmapped Google+ from Gmail, making Google+ an optional step when creating a Google Account.

Image: Google

Google Maps

Google launched the Google+ Local app in 2012, which directly incorporated reviews and photos from your Google+ friends into specific business pages. While expanding Google's ability to deliver local business information, it has also attempted to evolve the Google+ platform. Google+ Local, as a stand-alone application, was destroyed a year later, in 2013, and many features built into Google Maps. In 2014, Google retried by making some public Google+ photos containing location information visible in Google Maps.

Look for

Google used Google+ to personalize the search with an integration called "Search plus Your World" in 2012. This feature provided a social context for the search results. So, if you were logged in to your Google+ account while using it, the photos and posts from a user's account, as well as people in their circles, would be fed into the results. according to Search engineGoogle no longer customizes search results outside the "user location or immediate context of a previous search".

Image: Google

Google game

Google launched Google Play Games in 2013, a service that allows users to view rankings, participate in multiplayer games, and unlock achievements. It also needed a Google+ profile to be able to use it. The Google+ requirement was removed in 2016 as part of "measures to reduce signature frictions".

Google Calendar

At the IO conference in 2012, Google announced the addition of a new Google+ feature, called "Events", built into Google Calendar. The deployment was difficult. Google did not allow users to control the number of invitations on their calendars, generating a considerable amount of spam. No matter what A Google+ user has been invited to view it on their Google+ Events page and has been added to their calendar. Some have reported hundreds of spontaneous events on their calendars. The fixes have been pushed, but the problems with event spam automatically adding to the calendars have persisted for years in various forms.

Google+ Bar

In 2011, the Google bar was a black band at the top of the screen on all Google web properties. This quickly led to a simpler integration with a drop-down menu associated with Google's logo, which allows you to switch between items such as Google Maps, Google Maps and search. Anyway, one thing remained the same: content sharing with Google+ was a priority and a notification icon showed you all new activity on your Google+ account.

Google Hangouts

In 2011, Google+ unveiled Hangouts, a messaging app for group chats in text or video mode. You needed a Google+ account to be able to sign up. Google+ Hangouts were integrated with Gmail in 2012, but just two years later, they were disconnected from Google+, allowing anyone with a Google Apps account to use the service. "Google Apps customers have been enjoying Google+ and Hangouts long enough to recognize separate use cases for both," said a Google spokesman. TechCrunch at the time.

Google Photos

Google+ Photos closed in 2015 with the replacement of the Google Photos derived product. Photos could still be sent to Google+, but the service was no longer considered essential. In addition, the existence of Google Photos itself made the version of Google+ redundant. "In fact, maintaining both Google+ Photos (Google+'s private photo management component) and Google Photos poses a number of challenges," said Anil Sabharwal, Director of Google Photos in 2015. "It's particularly puzzling for users to have offers that do virtually the same thing. "