Google reportedly planning to dismantle Google+

Google+, the social networking website and authorship tool from Google Inc, is reportedly in troubled waters after the sudden departure of its head, Vic Gundotra. Last Thursday, April 24^th 2014, Vic Gundotra announced that he is leaving Google after spending 8 years with the company.

Announcing the decision, he wrote at his farewell blog,

“Today I’m announcing my departure from Google after almost 8 years. I have been incredibly fortunate to work with the amazing people of Google. I don’t believe there is a more talented and passionate collection of people anywhere else”.

Google+ has a strong presence

Although Google+ was never a threat to social media giant Facebook, it is the second-largest social networking site in the world. In October 2013, Google counted 540 million active users who used at least one Google+ service, of which 300 million users were active. Apart from Social networking service, Google+ other offerings like the free video tool Hangouts and photo and video editing tools have been quite impressive.

There are reports that after Vic Gundotra’s departure, Google+ will no longer remain a product and will be transformed into a platform, thereby ending its presence in the social network arena dominated by Facebook and Twitter.

According to TechCrunch, Google+ team, a group numbering between 1,000 and 1,200 employees, will be dismantled and shifted to different teams like the Android.

TechCrunch mentions on its blog,

“Basically, talent will be shifting away from the Google+ kingdom and towards Android as a platform, we’re hearing. It’s not clear, according to our sources’ intel, where the rest of the employees will go, but the assumption is that Larry Page will follow Mark Zuckerberg’s lead at Facebook and send the bulk of them to mobile roles”.

What’s next for Google+

Users across the world have been using Google+ for SEO and brand building. For better ranking in Google’s search engine Google+ account is a must. However, Vic Gundotra’s departure compiled with the loss of 1200 workers puts a question mark over Google+ future.

Even though Google CEO Larry Page said that there will be continued efforts to build great new experiences for the ever increasing number of Google+ fans, it is feared that Google+ may well be neglected without the leader.