03 Google Plus

Google Plus, taken from us before its time. Google has something of a reputation for abandoning products and services once they are deemed unprofitable (hello Google Wave), but the final Google property on our list kept stumbling onwards for years, somehow surviving data leakage scandals and poor user retention, until Google finally took it out back and put it down with a battered old Winchester 73 in 2019. It’s almost a shame, especially when seeing how other Google properties like Drive and Gmail have flourished over the last few years and evolved into an excellent web of interconnected services. G+, as it was often called, was supposed to be the Google-powered social network, going up against both platforms like Facebook and more professional services like LinkedIn. While initial growth was solid, interest waned as its competitors grew. Censorship in China and Iran only drove controversy, but the most damning thing was undoubtedly Google’s attempts to tie YouTube commenting to G+ accounts. People were extremely unhappy, and the mandatory Google Plus integration was scaled back a few years later.