Quote:Google just announced that it will sunset the company's social networking service Google+ for consumers in the coming 10 month period.
Google+ was Google's last attempt at creating a Facebook competitor that would put Google on equal footing with the social networking giant in regards to user data and number of users.

Google+ received mixed reviews and ratings when Google launched it in 2011 after it retired Google Buzz, another attempt at gaining traction in the social networking world.

The launch of Google+ felt forced, especially since Google rewarded webmasters who integrated the service into their sites and switched the comment system and inbox system on YouTube and other sites to Google+.

Basically, what Google did back then was to push Google+ accounts by restricting functionality on popular sites that was not restricted prior to that.