Google Plus announced on Monday that it will shut down the consumer version of the social network, launched in 2011 and meant to be a competitor to Facebook.
The network was meant to be a site that linked users to various Google products, including its search engine and YouTube. But it didn’t ever catch on.
The announcement comes “after it discovered a security vulnerability that exposed the private data of up to 500,000 users,” the New York Times reported.
Google did not tell its users about the security issue when it was found in March because it didn’t appear that anyone had gained access to user information, and the company’s “Privacy & Data Protection Office” decided it was not legally required to report it, the search giant said in a blog post.
The decision will not affect Google business pages, which give small, local businesses the opportunity to put themselves on the map, receive reviews, post photos and more.
Author: Ellen Matis, Hello Social Co.
Tags: google plus, network shutdown, Social Media