Google Abandons Google+ Sign-Up Requirement for New Google Accounts

a brand-new Google user, then you

might have noticed—or taken advantage of—a
new modification that no longer ties your

account to the company's Google+ social

platform.
According to a new report from Marketing

Land , Google has quietly shelved the

requirement that new Google account

creators also create a Google+ profile during

the signup process. This is a pretty big step

for the search giant, as Google had been

mandating this Google+ account creation for

the better part of 2.5 years or so—since

January 2012.

Now, when you go to create a new Google

account, you'll be given the option to sign up

for a Google+ account. However, if you don't

elect to click the "Create your profile"

button, you can make use of the brand-new

"No thanks" button to opt out of the process.

"Some will see this change as more evidence

that Google is de-emphasizing (or even

preparing to kill) its three-year-old social

network. That was popular speculation in

April after Vic Gundotra, Google's godfather

of Google+, stepped down in April. More

heads were nodding when Google removed the

display of Google+ authorship information

from search results last month," Martin

Beck writes.

"But more likely, in my opinion, is that

Google will continue making subtle changes to

the service, making improvements to popular

Google+ products like Hangouts and Hangouts

on Air or even spinning off its excellent

photo product so people without Google+

accounts can use it."

It is certainly plausible that Google cares

more about functionality and integration than

raw numbers at this point. It's highly

doubtful the service will ever become as

ingrained with one's digital lifestyle as, say,

Facebook, Twitter, or the lot.

That said, it's important to note that Google

isn't lessening the impact of Google+ within

its other services. You're free to ignore the

social network to your heart's content.

However, doing so will prevent you from being

able to do things like leave app reviews,

upload videos to YouTube, et cetera.

It remains to be seen if this slight tweak

represents some sort of greater signal

regarding Google's ambitions with Google+. At

least, that's the current speculation—not

helped by the fact that Google senior vice

president for social and Google+ co-creator,

Vic Gundotra, stepped down from his

position this past April. Google also stopped

forcing Google+ users to use their real names

on their accounts this past July, and an

August report from Bloomberg indicated that

Google is planning to extract Google+ Photos

into its own separate service.