First Twitter, now Google+: has Google lost its mind, or is there a method to the madness?
Back in the long-ago days of September 2015, Twitter dropped a bomb shell. The still struggling network that everyone agrees has potential but never quite lives up to it, quietly announced they were removing the share counts from Tweet buttons on the web.
Naturally, the internet lost its collective cool before the ink was even dry on the digital paper.
And there was weeping and gnashing of teeth.
At the time, we brought you all the facts about that update in a comprehensive post, what it could mean, and what, if anything, we could do to solve the problem.
In the end, we delivered on our promise to do everything we could to bring back those Share Counts to our Social Warfare Plugin for WordPress, by doing just that. Because of our commitment to delivering the best social sharing plugin on the web, our users have continued to enjoy the benefits of Twitter share buttons, Share Counts and all. Just like the kind mom used to make (if your mom was a developer).
And there was much rejoicing.
You could be forgiven for thinking this was just Twitter being Twitter, a one-off fluke. Dog gotta bark, bird gotta sing, Twitter gotta find ways to undercut their own value. C’est la vie.
Now, however, Google+ has decided to join the party as well. A couple of years late but just as dressed to impress depress as their fine feathered fellow network.
The much-maligned network once touted as a “Facebook Killer,” announced in a Google+ Post by Product Manager John Nack that they will also be removing the share count (aka +1 Count) from their web Sharing buttons. They claim that the purpose of this move is for making the +1 button and share box load more quickly.
At that point, of course, all hell broke loose in the world of the Plus. Or at least as much hell as its users could raise about it from behind their keyboards.
So, as we did for Twitter, we’re here again to give you the skinny on what this means, both in general and for our valued Social Warfare customers.
Google+ has decided to drop support for share counts. Here's what you need to know!Click To TweetSo What is Google+ Thinking?
Is this really just a move intended to make the +1 Buttons load more quickly?
As with Twitter, we wondered if there was a financial motive, or maybe it was some power play against 3rd party developers. Google+ isn’t directly monetized (apart from whatever pocket change the company may have earned from the technically cool but never very in-demand +Post Ads), and never really had an API, so surely that can’t be it.
Google+ critics and cynics, of which there are many, might say, “This is proof they’re planning to kill Google+, just like we’ve been predicting,” but surely that would be reading too much into a small change to their web sharing buttons.
Maybe we should just take Google+ at their word on this one?
They’re no longer trying to be a giant-slayer. They’re not forcing every user of all things Google to sign up for an account anymore. They have nothing really to gain from this beyond shaving a little load time (maybe) off 3rd party websites.
Still, it is odd.
If you use and care about Google+ as part of your social media or SEO strategy, keep reading. And remember to bookmark and share this post out with others.
This is important. Even those who don’t use Google+ or depend on it for shares should know.
Reasons Why You Should Care About This
The effect this change will have on your website or business depends on a lot of factors. Here are a few things to consider:
Impact on bloggers
If you’re a blogger, your Google +1 button won’t show visitors how many times your posts have been shared.
This could lead to fewer shares and less interaction. This could be especially true if you use Google’s own Blogger site, which includes Google+ sharing buttons by default.
Impact on native advertising
If you’re an online pro who gets paid big bucks for helping promote brands on social media, you’ll lose a primary way of showing advertisers how popular you are with the online masses – social proof.
That could put a dent in your bank account, especially if Google+ has been a strong network for you.
Impact on developers
If you’re a third-party app developer, your app may lose a critical part of its functionality, and you may lose subscribers or customers because of it.
Insights From The Plus Influencers Themselves
To get a better sense of the real impact of this move, we created a Google+ post and invited some of the biggest influencers and evangelists to comment.
We asked people why they think Google+ would do this, what they thought and felt about this decision, and what sort of impact it might have on social media and social proof.
Here are some of the insights we gained from this, and we invite you to add your thoughts as well, either on the Google+ post or in the comments below.
Why Would Google+ Do This?
Unlike Twitter, which generated all sorts of theories and even conspiracy theories with their move, the range of speculation on this part of our query was pretty consistent to three points:
Possibility 1: It really is about speed improvement
Google+ really does just want to speed up the load time for the +1 button and sharing box.
Why they suddenly deemed this important is not very clear. Although it may have something to do with the primary source of their user growth, as mentioned in number three below.
Possibility 2: Competing with bigger counts
Google+’s share counts rarely look that impressive next to Facebook, and often get lapped as well by Twitter, Pinterest, and other networks.
Maybe Google doesn’t want to invite (even more) unfavorable comparisons, especially as growing the network to market domination is no longer their White Whale.
Possibility 3: Disassemble
Google+ is being slowly but surely shut down by their parent company. For all their proclamations that they continue to support the network, they just want to ease users off of it gently before sunsetting it.
This was mostly suggested as unlikely, especially since the network continues to show active signs of development and support.
And Google can likely find justifications to keep it even if it makes no money, such as using it as a testing ground for new features. Google Spaces, for example, which shut down but quasi-reincarnated its features into Enterprise Hangouts.
At any rate, Google has nothing better yet to replace Google+ with so they might keep it until they do. This is the same thing that happened with Orkut, which was mostly used in Brazil and India until Google+ outgrew it.
That latter is especially noteworthy, as the company has even said that Google+’s strongest source of user growth and engagement of late is outside of the English speaking world. Part of the Material Design UI redesign they gave Google+ last year was about making the network faster and snappier for those users (perhaps explaining Possibility 1 above).
What Are Your Thoughts and Feelings About This?
This announcement is still just starting to get noticed and hasn’t been seen even by all the evangelists and influencers of Google+ yet. We also want to hear from all of you reading this, but here are some of the main response types we’re seeing to-date:
- It’s absolutely devastating to me.
- It doesn’t matter, anyway, because no one/not enough people care.
- It would have mattered to me once, but not any longer.
- It’ll just confirm people’s suspicion that Google+ is a ghost town.
- It’ll kill any marketing interest in Google+.
- It could be a good thing!
The consensus was that, unlike with Twitter (which shook the marketing earth), this mostly will not impact Google+ and its users. At worst, there seems to be surprise and a stoic resignation. No one seems to be heading for their bunkers.
And, as we said about Twitter,
“Just as the SEO world found ways to deal with grossly diminished reporting of search data for analytics, the social media community will develop workarounds to meet the challenge.”
However, as our good friend and marketing maven Randy Milanovic pointed out,
“While the enlightened may see little need for social proof, whether it’s a share count, 5 stars, testimonials, or award wins, social proof is an immensely powerful tool for marketers. One less tool.”
As we said, this matters.
And now to our final query– Drumroll, please!
What Impact Will This Have On Social Media and Social Proof?
As we said the last time, this is a tough, tough question. Our crystal ball scrying still needs more work before we can see the future clearly on this.
No one really seems to think this will have anywhere near the impact of Twitter (sorry, Google, but we have to be honest about this), although for some people it will have as much or more.
Some consequences are pretty likely, such as decreasing some people’s interest in the network as a source of traffic and engagement. Others possibilities, such as the virtual annihilation of marketing interest in the network seem more likely. And some things seem pretty unlikely (at least in the short term), such as this being a step in the near future demise of Google+.
What’s The Solution?
If this move is likely to impact you, the best advice is probably to get out in front of it and now and start coming up with a strategy. Unfortunately, we may have to take that advice ourselves, as there’s no way to know right now how this will impact 3rd party sharing tools like Social Warfare.
At the moment it seems to lead towards losing all support for Google+ share counts, but we are working hard to clarify with Google. We will update this post when we are 100% sure.
We’ll know more as the dust clears and the fleas shake out, and as always we promise to do anything and everything within our power to bring those share counts back!
Some Of Our Favorite Quotes So Far
We’re grateful for the insights of everyone who has commented so far. They had no time to prepare, and we needed responses quickly so we could get a handle on the situation, possible solutions, and what to tell you, our readers and plugin subscribers.
Some quotes especially have jumped out at us. Click on the names to find out more about them.
“I for one am not happy at all. My blog isn’t much to look at … pretty outdated, but all of my shares, some numbering over a thousand, came from G+. Without G+, I have nada since I put all my eggs in the G+ basket so to speak. It is a shame. This platform was so much fun and so exciting, and little by little, they tore it down.” – Christine DeGraff
“I think it’s both bad for publishers and for Google+. The publishers who value that social proof now have 0 reasons to keep the G+ share button on their articles. With lower visibility, less opportunity to easily share to G+, people will simply forget to.” – Dustin W. Stout (Co-founder, Warfare Plugins)
“[Share counts] have no value beyond ego fluffing. None at all. It always has been a veneer of engagement, when in fact it’s valueless.” – David Kutcher
“I get the sense that share counts across services aren’t all that accurate – esp. Twitter.” – Gideon Rosenblatt
We Want To Hear From You!
We’d really love to hear from you and get your perspective on Google+’s decision to kill +1 Counts. Sound off in the comments below or tell us how you feel on the social platform of your choice. You know what to do!
P.S. If you’re not a fan of Google+’s decision and want your share counts to remain, use the hashtag #SaveOurShareCounts and join the other folks petitioning against this change.
If you are from marketing field, then you know how important is Google plus especially for seo. But unfortunately, Google is shutting down this social platform. It was launched to compete Facebook but it failed to meet the levels of Facebook since the year of its launch.
I depend on my share counts for my blog posts, as it gives me a sense of how “popular” my posts are. It’s a pity Google + decided to take theirs out, especially now that I found out that, even though it’s not a popular platform, it still helps out with your SEO!
Is Social Warfare planning on doing something like you’ve done with Twitter share counts? Can we register through another site which will provide the G+ counts? That would be super if it can be accomplished!
Why people still use to read news papers when in thhis technological worlld all is availoable on net?
I like G+ very much and like to download beautiful pictures to share these among the Facebook account holders.
Google is pushing me out of their blogspot platform. But I don’t know where else to go to. How am I supposed to know which one of my post is popular without the counts?
to ordinary people there’s little value in this facility
please comeback G+ 1 count. we miss you
I am using Google+ and It’s something special <3 for every Blogger and Marketer. Google+ sharing count is a major factor in ranking and even for a brand.
I wish socialwarfare will come with something to back the G+ share counts like Twitter.
If Google Plus counts are not showing, then how did you manage to show them on this very page? Does Social Warfare get the Google Plus counts back?
Hi Geetesh! Social Warfare has the ability to “cache” the share counts before they stopped showing, but no new counts can be added.
Thank you so much, Dustin.
Owh … it turns out this is intentional, I think there is something wrong with my share count.
Thanks for sharing this kind of information
Thank you for the article.
It’s helped me make a decision regarding whether I should return to google plus or look at entirely different social media options to drive my new businesses.
Over the past two years there have been too many changes on G+ negatively impacting many users.
Damn! I liked to play with XML and curl to grab that data, not it is all gone.
It is strange to think Google needs to remove a feature to have a fast response on +1 buttons, they have huge bandwidth to keep counter alive, am I wrong?
I would have expected them to keep at least APIs live, but they did not.
🙁
Looks like the hammer dropped yesterday – the counts are gone for newer urls. I’m not happy about this – we used these counts quite a lot in our internal post hotness calculations as well as cached and showed them on androidpolice.com.
The loss of Twitter counts was overcome by opensharecount.com. Now we need the same for G+.
Disappointed with these changes. I will hide google+ button from my share bar.
Thanks for sharing this kind of information
Hi Dustin,
It’s not a good news for bloggers like us who mostly show off their good numbers of social media presence to the advertisers. This practice may be hurt Google one day.. we don’t have choice that’s why we are working on Google.
I think that the data about how engaged your readers are could still be found.
It is now titled “Influence” and it’s available in the profile tab.
I love the social proof aspect of all the sharing tools. It really is disappointing they are going to take them away. Hopefully you guys will still be able to have them just like you did with Twitter.
Thanks for chiming in, Bill! We’ll do everything we can to find a way, but Google+ has historically been super close-fisted about their API. We’ll see.
Some great marketers like Neil Patel have said that marketing buttons themselves are close to useless. Social proof or not the numbers I am sure help boost ego but it terms of ROI they contribute to less than 1% of total clicks. In other words a majority of people just don’t use them. I think share counts, and +1’s are awesome of analytics and who is sharing your articles but in terms of usefulness they are overrated. I think eventually we will see share buttons suffer the main
Interesting you reference Niel Patel, we’ve referenced his research in a blog post citing his findings about how many share buttons one should have on their site/blog. Would love to see where he alternatively said they’re “close to useless”.
Hey Dustin,
You can find those finding in Podcast Marketing School eps #372 Do Social Sharing Buttons still work?
In the podcast he details his experience and ctr with social share. Don’t get me wrong nor get offended. I love Social Warefare and I have a subscription to the service because it’s just damn good and offers great value for what you get. I would only argue that a lot of effort that goes into sharing numbers is mostly about ego. It has little to do with the urging new readers to share the article because as Neil has stated, it really doesn’t account for much.
Thanks for that Patrick! Not offended at all–always curious. While studies have proven that high share counts influenced more shares, it was actually pretty marginal. We’d love to do actual testing on this ourselves though, but it’s turning out to be more complex than it might be worth.
I would argue though that for people such as speakers and “personalities” that social proof such as share counts are more than ego fuel–they really do influence booking more gigs. But again, it’s one of those things you can’t measure, nor is it the end-all-be-all of any opportunity.
Terrible decision but thanks for looking into fix! Agree will them them, but guess they won’t listen as likely G+ does not monetize as well as YouTube.
If trend continues, it’s maybe time for a service called share fetcher who records and stores sharing history across networks. Maybe you guys could built it, but first of all thanks for working on fix.
Just FYI I just removed like 30% of CSS from warfare plugin, as it wasn’t needed for my current style. Maybe this could give a good blog post, if you guys add a simple button saying: “Use of external custom style sheet.” Which would make it easier to update. Okay plugin is laser fast but love to tweak every bit of code.
This definitely reduces the value of Google+. The above commenter is correct that without a share count, there is no reason to have a Google+ button on any page.
I had just removed the Google Plus sharing button from my sites and within a couple of minutes I got the email leading me to this post.
Man that was spooky!
Google never knew how to run a social network in the first place and Orkut and G+ both showed that.
Anyway, even if Google removes the share count I don’t care. I never really gave much importance to G+ in the first place. It’s hardly a prediction when I say that G+ will be dead soon, and with bloggers like myself now even more unwilling to pay any attention to G+, it’ll only die faster.
Farewell G+. You were never any good anyways.
PS: This does decrease the social sharing button loading time on my sites now since my sites will no longer load Google Plus 🙂
If google removes this, I will remove Google+ from my social networks.
The ONLY reason to use google+ is to get more share counts. If I don’t get that then I will delete my google+ profile and discontinue use altogether.
So “getting share counts” is more important than using G+ to build awareness of what you do, that could lead to work, financial success, business success, etc?
Okaayy…
I used to love the way Google+ was worked but after seeing Google change it’s design so many times I stopped using the platform. It’s hard to see such a great network to slowly die.
Yea, I agree Panos. Many of the changes they’ve made over the past year have not been good. I do, however, like the Material Design change. It’s just all the other mechanics they’ve been shifting/dropping that is disappointing to me.
At this point, on a deep level, I agree with David Kutcher’s comments about the real value of +1’s being, maybe, a form of ego fluffing. On another level, sometimes we think things and wonder if we are the only one’s concerned or interested, +1’s give us a sense of others on Earth who are thinking or considering similar ideas that are important, or confirming. I loved Twitter, but found that many people ‘viewing Tweets’ responded negatively or personally, even if they did not relate to it or you, or the person, at all. I switched to Google+ because it had a stream with people expressing ideas, art, or thoughts one might not find in mainstream media, or would not find there. Ironically, it also ‘feels’ more private, even though we know it is not, really. But that feeling may on some level reflect the reality of the mediators, who wanted a forum for people to connect, ideas; hopefully, good, or at least interesting ones. I found this was the case with Google+. As soon as the icons for each person became minimized, graphically, my thought was, Google+ was minimizing the importance of people and content altogether, but I still valued the community as a source of information and ideas, personality, and sometimes, deep, important kindness.
So, one thing that I often argue with David about is the value of social proof. He doesn’t believe in the psychological power of share button numbers because he cannot track it to a sale. High-level marketers know that brand perception is not something you can track in a spreadsheet or graph. Share counts are just one of many “tools” (as Randy says) that adds to (or takes away from) an individuals perception of a page/brand/business.
While social share counts are an ego fluffer for many, it can’t be denied that they have psychological weight in the perception of a first-time visitor.
But it is what it is… nobody is going to go out of business because they didn’t have Google+ share counts. lol