Expediting changes to Google+

Expediting changes to Google+

In October, we announced that we'd be sunsetting the consumer version of Google+ and its APIs because of the significant challenges involved in maintaining a successful product that meets consumers' expectations, as well as the platform's low usage.

We've recently determined that some users were impacted by a software update introduced in November that contained a bug affecting a Google+ API. 

We discovered this bug as part of our standard and ongoing testing procedures and fixed it within a week of it being introduced. No third party compromised our systems, and we have no evidence that the app developers that inadvertently had this access for six days were aware of it or misused it in any way.

With the discovery of this new bug, we have decided to expedite the shut-down of all Google+ APIs; this will occur within the next 90 days. 

In addition, we have also decided to accelerate the sun setting of consumer Google+ from August 2019 to April 2019. While we recognize there are implications for developers, we want to ensure the protection of our users.

Details about the bug and our investigation... Read More