Gmail: Is Google+ Dying? Email Service No Longer Requires Signup

Gmail: Is Google+ Dying? Email Service No Longer Requires Signup
In this April 17, 2007 file photo, exhibitors of the Google company work on laptop computers in front of an illuminated sign of the Google logo at the industrial fair Hannover Messe in Hanover, Germany. Jens Meyer/AP Photo
Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
|Updated:

Gmail has dropped its mandatory Google+ signup, according to reports.

The push was apparently made earlier this month, a spokesperson has confirmed. For several years, Gmail required a Google+ account.

“We updated the signup experience in early September. Users can now create a public profile during signup, or later, if and when they share public content for the first time (like a restaurant review, YouTube video or Google+ post),” the spokesperson told the Telegraph.

Forbes writer Amit Chowdhry posted a screenshot of the signup process, and it has a “No Thanks” option.

A few months ago, Google took down search results for its Google+ author profiles to “clean up the visual design” of the search service.

According to Marketing Land, “Some will see this change as more evidence that Google is de-emphasizing (or even preparing to kill) its three-year-old social network. That was popular speculation in April after Vic Gundotra, Google’s godfather of Google+, stepped down in April. More heads were nodding when Google removed the display of Google+ authorship information from search results last month.”

“But more likely, in my opinion, is that Google will continue making subtle changes to the service, making improvements to popular Google+ products like Hangouts and Hangouts on Air or even spinning off its excellent photo product so people without Google+ accounts can use it,” writes Martin Beck for the publication.

Jack Phillips
Jack Phillips
Breaking News Reporter
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter who covers a range of topics, including politics, U.S., and health news. A father of two, Jack grew up in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
twitter