Shut down in 2019, Google+ was never really a favorite for most in the social media landscape. However, during today’s massive and extended Facebook outage, Google+ came to mind for quite a few people.

It’s been over two years since Google pulled the plug on its biggest attempt at launching a social network, but many forget a big reason why it was killed off. A privacy breach on Google+ resulted in a class-action lawsuit, and now, millions of former users are getting payouts.

It’s official. About eight years after it’s debut, Google has officially pulled the plug on its social network, Google+.

Google’s social network Google+ is very much on its last limbs. The company announced last year that the service would be shutting down in late 2019, and then that timeline was moved up dramatically. Tonight, the service has experienced an interruption.

It’s bittersweet to see it go, but Google+ is shutting down in April 2019. The social network has seen security breaches causing its downfall, and ahead of the full closing, Google has just revealed that Google+ APIs will shut down starting on March 7th.

Earlier this week, awkwardly just ahead of the Made by Google event, it was announced that Google+ was shutting down for consumers. That distinction is important, as we learn today that Google+ for G Suite is getting new business-minded social networking features.

Well, it finally happened. Google+ is officially being shut down. The ill-fated social network never really had mass adoption, but its core user base is certainly already pretty vocal about it going away, though. If you’re an avid user, here’s how to download Google+ data before it gets shut down.

Google+, despite a collection of passionate users, has never been all that much of a success for Google. Now, hilariously, Google is shutting down one of its official pages on the social network and directing users to the competition.

Following the launch of Photos in May 2015, Google began winding down similar functionality in Google+. A full deprecation of the remaining backup feature is now set for next month as older versions of the Android and iOS apps will stop working.

Last week, G Suite began rolling out a new enterprise-grade version of Education to its customers, while major launches in recent months include the addition of Hangouts Chat. Today, G Suite is adding convenient new profile information cards on web apps.

There are a lot of things Google+ does better than other social networks, but notifications have never been one of them. Especially in the case of communities, notifications have only ever had two levels — all in or nothing. Now, though, Google is introducing a new “Highlights” feature for notifications on the social network.

Last month, Google+ for Android received a “complete rewrite” that featured “subtle updates,” but otherwise reminded visually unchanged. The latest version is rolling out today and it includes a brighter, white design.

Following this week’s addition of advanced search filters and more stats for Community moderators, Google+ is now gaining more tools to moderate comments. Specifically, all users will be able to delete, report, and block comments on their posts.

Google’s nascent social network geared towards Collections and Communities is gaining advanced search features to make it easier to find posts. Meanwhile, Google+ is also adding more metrics for Community moderators and G Suite admins.

Google+ has a small but rabid following, and — believe it or not — it still gets updated with new features. The most recent was a new “Discover” feature that highlights the best content on the social network. Today’s update is smaller, but brings a key change to how comments are displayed.

Google+ is a niche community in the bigger picture of online social networks, but it’s one that’s filled to the brim with Google fans. Now, those super-fans — yes, some of us included — have a new way to find content from Communities and Collections: Topics…

Google Plus is a social media network that is either fantastic or a ghost town depending on who you ask. Google has long stood behind its social network and is now looking to bring it — in an officially supported capacity — to the enterprise market. Starting today, Google+ is a “core” service packaged alongside other officially supported Google Apps for Work services…

Its redesign is now old news, but Google is still slowly adding features to Google+ — and recently they quietly added push notifications on the desktop. Through Google Chrome, users can now get their notifications pushed to them on top of active windows. While this isn’t for everybody (it is Google+, of course), this should prove useful for those who actively use the social network and want to quickly respond to any new mentions or post notifications.

The latest iteration of Google+ heavily revolves around Collections and Communities. To help prevent spam and inappropriate content, Communities now have more aggressive content controls and filters that will flag posts. Google is gradually rolling out the new filters to existing communities…

An update to Google+ for Android will now preload webpages when on WiFi, adds notification filtering, Community moderation tools, and more in addition to other bug fixes.

Some users are reporting that links in Google+ for Android are opening as Chrome Custom Tabs. The feature introduced and released last year opens links twice as fast when compared to being pushed out to a browser. The update appears to be triggered server-side and was apart of last week’s update.

Google has been sprucing up their web apps this week as the first new updates of 2016 start to trickle in. Inbox by Gmail on the web adds a super convenient photo and attachment picker, while Google Plus now allows users to pin posts to their profiles.

Google, Luke Wroblewski has shared some information on a new version of the Google Plus app which should be rolling out to the Play Store over the next couple of days. The G+ update will take the social networking app up to version 7.0.0 and includes a number of requested new features, as well as a boatload of bug fixes.

In the latest version of Google’s Android app, users should notice that the bottom tab bar is automatically hidden whenever they’re scrolling up or down any page (except the notifications screen). It may seem like a minor design change, but it does free up more screen real estate for actual content, and makes the app look a lot less cluttered.

Another new useful feature (which I can’t quite believe wasn’t already there) is the autocomplete suggestions which show up as you type in the search bar. As well as that, the home stream will now remember your position if you happen to go to a different screen within the app, so you don’t have to scroll down to find where you were when you return to it.

Lastly, along with the 69 bug fixes and 14 accessibility issues that were addressed, the new Google Plus app places a prompt on your profile to add a Collection or Community if you don’t have one. As we all know by now, Google Plus is now all about the Collections and Communities.

The updated app is available on the Play Store from today. If you have it installed, the update should show up on your device over the next day or two, if it hasn’t already.

From 9to5Toys.com:

As expected from its leaked Black Friday ad, Sam’s Club is now offering a $100 Google Play gift card for $79.64 shipped. That’s more than 20% off your next Google Play purchases on games, apps, movies, TV shows and more. While we do see iTunes gift cards go on sale quite often, these Google Play vouchers are much harder to come by. They can be amazing gifts for Android users and anyone who’s locked into Google’s video services.

It ships free and can be redeemed on the web or Android devices. Full details/instructions can be found below. Head over to 9to5Toys for all of the best Black Friday deals the entire weekend-long.

Includes:

One (1) $100 Google Play gift card

To redeem on the web:

1. Go to play.google.com/redeem.
2. Scratch label off of card & enter code.
3. Start shopping – your gift card value will be added to your Google Play balance.

To redeem on an Android phone/tablet:

1. Launch the Google Play Store app on your Android phone or tablet.
2. Select Redeem.
3. Scratch label off of card & enter code.
4. Start shopping – your gift card value will be added to your Google Play balance.

Specifications

Terms and Conditions

Use of card subject to additional terms and privacy policy: play.google.com/about/card-terms.html. Valid only for users 13+ years of age and resident of U.S. Redemption requires Google Wallet account and internet access. Limits may apply to redemption and use. No fees or expiration dates applicable to this card. Card may be used for purchases of eligible items on Google Play only. Any refunded amount will be credited back to your Google Play balance for future use under same terms. Card is not redeemable for cash or other cards; not reloadable or refundable; cannot be combined with other non-Google Play balances in your Google Wallet account, resold, exchanged or transferred for value (except as required by law). Once card is purchased, risk of loss and title for card passes to purchaser. Google Payment Corp. and its affiliates disclaim all express or implied warranties as to the Google Play card and Google Play.

The new Google+ interface is rolling out on the web today, and if you’re anything like me, you don’t have much patience for slow rollouts. I still hadn’t been prompted to click the “Let’s go” button and get the new layout, but luckily I stumbled on a way (via Sean S) to opt myself in without any wait time. Here’s how…