As you may know, the future of Google+ has come into question since Vic Gundotra announced he is leaving the company.
Reports have suggested that Google will start winding down the product part of Google+, and focus more on using it as a platform for other products. Google has denied this, saying that it will not change its strategy. Reports have said the company will move team members from Google+ to other products. A Googler said on Google+ that nobody is moving. The reports also implied that Google would stop forcing people to use Google+ to use other products.
Now, SearchCerts points to a new promo video for Google Partners that says you must have a Google+ company page to sign up for Google Partners, which is apparently new.
At the 0:47 mark, it says, you’ll need a Google+ page that’s linked to your agency’s website before getting started. The video was uploaded on Wednesday.
It would also be strange if Google started phasing out Google+ right after it launched a new ad format based on Google+ posts.
This week, we learned Google is testing a new sign-in button for websites, which removes the Google+ element in favor of simply signing in with your Google account. Of course these are essentially the same thing. This could get more people using Google’s login on third-party sites since Google itself is much more popular than Google+, but it hardly signals the end of Google+, even if it does move beyond the testing phase. Either way, Google+ is only gaining in social login market share as Facebook is on the decline, though Facebook’s latest announcements may change that.
Image via YouTube
