Google+

Google has been phasing out of Google+ for a while now and now, they’ve finally removed its links and reviews from search results pages. If you’ve got a second this morning, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

One thing you have to admire about Google is its restlessness, especially for such a huge company. It’s always testing—introducing and ending products as if it were a startup.

Google put tremendous resources behind Google+—even going so far as to tie employees’ bonus to its success. But lately, Google+ seems like the uncle who you have to invite to Thanksgiving, even as you gently suggest he might be more comfortable elsewhere.

We can see evidence of these nudges in the decoupling from Plus of Hangouts, Photos, and even a Google account. And, now, Google just dropped the big axe, booting Plus from Mountain View’s claim to fame, its search results.

In this case, I suspect antitrust concerns, combined with the disappointing and decreasing use of Google+, made this a relatively easy decision.

Addendum: Success!