Google’s relationship with social media has always been troubled. Widely believed to be aimed at attacking Facebook’s dominance in that domain, Google+ never quite lived up to that dream. The social network from the maker of otherwise extremely successful products never took off and instead turned into something of a punching bag for internet enthusiasts. On October, 8th the Wall Street Journal reported that in March Google had found a bug in its code, making user data marked private visible to connection and third parties. This was the final push, the firm needed. Hours after the WSJ-article, Google announced that it was taking down the social network.
The company has no evidence that the bug has been exploited and nobody really shared much on Google+ anyway. Therefore, Google’s response may seem very swift and sweeping. This, self-evidently, has everything to do with the massive trouble Facebook has found itself in with the Cambridge Analytica Scandal. Although the number of affected users – if there even are any – is two orders of magnitude smaller, similarities abound. Both involved accidentally making available private user data to third party apps and Google, too, only took action after the incident was made public. If axing its unpopular social network could limit the damage done to the reputation of an otherwise extremely successful firm, this may have seemed a small price to pay for Google’s executives.
Few tears will be shed about the disappearance of Google+. More worrying from the internet giants’ perspective is the ever larger public outcry that follows their missteps. This combined with the advent of the General Data Protection Regulation the EU enacted in May may demand a significant mindshift from the internet giants. From “move fast and break things” to “restraint and caution” is a big step.
Harro Boven
Interesting read Harro!
I was wondering myself, as you point out there is a lot of things that went wrong with Google and their launch of google plus, however I think a larger aspect of the problem was the lack of functionality and usage of this product in the market, rather than the “scandals”. I think in this day and age there are a lot of opportunities for disruptive innovation, however Google simply attempted to do what others already do, but better, without introducing a “better” aspect. A textbook example of the Blue Ocean Strategy, they failed to grasp an “innovative & pursue new opportunities” perspective, and instead adopted the Red Ocean Strategy of “defend current position”. Facebook, for example, has had its fair share of scandals, but remains at the top of all social media, and as such I believe it is not excuse enough for Google to blame their failure on such incidents. Instead, they must re-look at the market and find areas that will provide users with functionality and abilities that other social media sites cannot offer, to create success.
Jordi