Ah Google +, the SEO love child of social media. I would like to say it is the fall of a great Roman empire, but it is really anything but that. Most people did not use Google + and businesses attempted to reap the slight SEO benefits of signing up for it. 

You can still use your Google + account, but it is more so the branding of it that is finished. Last month, Bradley Horowitz announced that he will be running Google's new Photos and Stream products. So, what exactly does this mean?

The Details

The truth is that when Google launched Google+, it actually launched three things. What it didn’t realize was that the two that weren’t “the social network,” Hangouts and Photos, were actually the future of social networking.
Wired

Google+ was made up by a feed, photos, and Google hangouts. The big news on the platform is the split up of the services.

Stream

 "For us Google+ was always two big things: one was building a stream, the second was a social layer, a common layer of identity; how sharing works across our products and services." said Pichai. "The stream has a passionate community of users. But the second goal was in some ways an even more important goal for us. We've done both, but I think we're at a stage where use cases like photos and communications are big standalone use cases so we're going to think of this as a stream first, and then photos and communications as big new areas. So internally we're organizing ourselves to support that. You'll see us evolve all these three areas."
The Verge

This will be your typical stream, but it will no longer be branded as Google +. 

Photos

Google Photos was actually rather popular with the large amount of space provided and easy editing tools. 

Features

• You can build albums with friends
• Store photos you share in messages in a constantly-updating album accessible to only you and a buddy
• Google will combine photos to make sure everyone smiling
• Creates a GIF a bunch of photos you took in rapid succession

Hangouts

This may have been one of the most popular features of Google +, but it is now its own app.  This app will have competition with WhatsApp and SnapChat, but it will allow users to make calls, send group messages, exchange videos, and photos. It is also available for Android, Apple, and your computer. 

Marketers

While many of us use Google + for business, it did not seem to be the star of any subjects with the newest change. 

"One of the things that's hurt Google+ is that a lot of brands have used it almost defensively just in case the rumors are true that it helps SEO," Liu says. "They'll post their real content to Twitter and Facebook, and post to Google+ only because they think they have to."
Clickz

While we do not have an update on business pages exactly, it may change how we share content. Brands will be able to treat each aspect of it like they do other platforms, the Streams may be used like Twitter while Photos are used like Instagram. Most company's do not use Google +, like Facebook, as their only platform, but it is still advised against putting all of your eggs in one basket in the ever changing face of social media. 

Will you be taking advantage of Google's new features? Let us know or see how we can help.