Google+ is Closing – What Affiliate Marketers Need to Know!

Many Affiliate Marketers are aware of the benefits of having a google+ account. Being able to tell google that you have a website and posting your content on google plus has always had a benefit when it comes to Ranking. Google has used this for ranking for a while and that is why Affiliate Marketers have used it. But now we find that Google+ is closing. Why?

Let’s go through that now.

Google+ Had a Data Breach

One of the key reasons why they are making this decision is due to the data breach that affected 500,000 members of the site. Their data could have been shared without their knowledge or consent with up to 438 outside developers. But I think the real issue is they didn’t tell anyone. They were worried that it would be seen as a Facebook scenario with the Cambridge Analytica situation.

This will also impact the Overall Google Brand and will lead to a number of investigations. They state that no one’s email address, gender and age were shared and that it was making changes to its data handling.

Google+ Never Reached Its Potential

Let’s be honest, not many people will be aware of Google+ as a social network. I didn’t join it until I was told how it could help your website rankings when I started with Wealthy Affiliate a couple of years ago.

When it first started, it was supposed to be a rival to Facebook – But that didn’t happen…

Whenever I check out Google+ it seems to be split between website owners sharing their content and maybe a few die hard groups like Star Trek using it to communicate and share stories.

But this can all be done on other social media platforms, the group function in Facebook is really useful.

When Does it Close?

It hasn’t been announced specifically, but the consumer version will be closed and Google has announced they will be focusing on the enterprise version as an internal communication tool for businesses.

But I can understand why they would be closing, apart from the Data Breach concerns it is shown that 90% of Google+ users are only online for 5 seconds. Not a great use of their resources.

If You Use Google+, What Now?

I know many WA members are concerned about the ranking benefits Google+ showed but doing some research I am not sure this has as much as an affect as the training that WA offer. When Google+ first launched it was stated that using the platform and the +1 would help with ranking, but they have moved away from this position. It did help with search results a little.

But if I am honest, my recommendation for people is not to worry too much about Google+ and focus on social media platforms that would benefit your brand for the long-term. Twitter and Facebook have huge audiences that actually interact with the content. Social Interaction from these sites to your content will have more of a positive impact than Google+.

Just wanted to share my thoughts on the closing of Google+. Let me know what your thoughts are on Google+ closing and share whether you actually use it or not.