Blog Details

• Written by: WLTX - Google SEO Services
• January 1, 2026
• Categories: Google SEO Guide
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The Lingering Shadow: Google Plus and Its SEO Legacy Years After Shutdown

Google Plus (G+) arrived in 2011 with fanfare, heralded as Google’s answer to Facebook and a potential game-changer for social media integration with search. Its abrupt shutdown in April 2019 left many wondering: what happened to all that SEO potential? While the platform itself is gone, its legacy subtly shapes how Google approaches search, user authority, and local business signals. Understanding these echoes is crucial for modern SEO strategy.

G+: A Brief Resurrection
Google positioned G+ as more than just a social network—it was intended to be a foundational identity layer across Google services. Features included “Circles” for sharing control, “Hangouts” for video chat, and tight integration with products like YouTube and Search. Crucially from an SEO perspective, Google pushed Authorship Markup, linking individual content creators to their Google+ profiles via rel=”author” tags. The vision? Elevate trustworthy authors directly in search results (SERPs) with their profile picture.

The Active Years: Direct SEO Impacts (Real and Perceived)
During its lifespan, G+ directly influenced SEO tactics, though not always as profoundly as believed:

1. Authorship Markup & Author Authority (The “Author Rank” Dream): The promise was grand: by verifying authors through their G+ profiles, Google could assess individual credibility (“Author Rank”) and boost content from trusted experts. While authorship snippets no longer appeared, the concept proved foundational to E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), a cornerstone of modern Google algorithms.
2. Social Signals (The Toes in the Water): Did G+ shares, +1’s (the “like” equivalent), and engagement directly boost rankings? Evidence suggests Google experimented. While not a dominant factor, widespread +1s likely signaled content popularity/potential trustworthiness—a small precursor to understanding indirect social validation signals generally.
3. Content Indexation Speed: Posts on G+ were indexed extremely quickly. Savvy SEOs leveraged this for near-instant indexing of fresh content snippets that linked back to their main site/page—a clever workaround before indexing became faster universally.
4. G+ Local / Google My Business Evolution: The G+ Local page format laid the groundwork for Google Business Profiles (GBP). Business listings, reviews, and local rankings were deeply tied to G+. Understanding this migration is vital today, as GBP remains arguably more critical for local SEO than G+ ever was.

The Demise: Immediate SEO Fallout
When Google announced G+’s shutdown date (April 2, 2019), the chaos was palpable:

• Broken Authorship Links: Millions of articles lost their connected author profiles instantly, impacting perceived authority snippets (though they’d mostly vanished years earlier).
• Dead Social Shares: Vast amounts of content lost their share counts and engagement signals sourced from G+, impacting perceived popularity.
• Indexing Turbulence: Links pointing to Google+ profiles or public posts returned 404s, potentially harming sites hosting such links.
• Local Business Transition: Businesses urgently migrated their listings and reviews into the standalone Google My Business platform (“GMB,” now GBP).

The Enduring Legacy: How G+ Shaped Modern SEO
Despite its death, G+ continues influencing Google’s approach and SEO tactics:

1. The E-A-T Paradigm: G+’s Authorship experiment highlighted Google’s desire to evaluate creator expertise. While Author Rank wasn’t implemented verbatim, its principles evolved into E-A-T—now absolutely critical, especially for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) sites. Proving author credentials (via bios, credentials, publishing history) remains essential, just decentralized from G+ profiles.
2. Doubting Direct Social Signals: Google became increasingly transparent post-G+ about social shares, likes, and followers (on any platform) not being direct ranking factors. G+’s closure cemented that relying solely on social engagement for SEO is futile. Value comes indirectly via referral traffic, brand visibility, and earned citations.
3. Local SEO’s Bedrock: The migration of G+ Local data to Google My Business solidified GBP’s importance. Today’s local rankings rely heavily on GBP optimization—NAP consistency (Name, Address, Phone), reviews, photos, and engagement—a direct descendant of the G+ Local structure and data.
4. Microdata Lessons: Authorship markup taught valuable lessons about structured data implementation. While authorship is gone, proper schema (Article, Organization, Person, LocalBusiness) offers similar contextual clarity to search engines today.
5. Avoiding Platform Reliance: G+’s abrupt demise stands as a stark warning: never build core SEO strategy entirely on a Google-owned platform you don’t control. Focus on owned assets (your site, email list) and diversify traffic sources.

Google Plus-Inspired Modern SEO Best Practices
Moving forward, ensure your strategy incorporates lessons learned:

1. Double Down on E-A-T: Clearly showcase author expertise, organizational credentials, and site trust signals (contact info, privacy policies, professional citations).
2. Master Google Business Profile: Treat your GBP listing as mission-critical for local SEO presence. Complete ALL sections, solicit genuine reviews, and engage professionally.
3. Leverage Schema Smartly: Implement relevant structured data to help Google understand your content, authors, and business information context.
4. Social Media for Indirect Impact: Use platforms (including Google-owned YouTube!) for brand building, audience engagement, and driving referral traffic—not expecting direct SEO boosts.
5. Prioritize Quality & User Focus: Ultimately, Google rewards helpful, informative content meeting user intent—a principle that outlasts any single platform.

Conclusion
Google Plus serves as a potent chapter in SEO history: a bold experiment showcasing Google’s ambition to integrate identity and social signals into search. While its direct SEO impact is nullified, its legacy profoundly shapes core modern Google ranking principles: the supremacy of E-A-T, skepticism towards direct social signals, and the foundational importance of GMB/Google Business Profiles for local visibility. Understanding these historical threads allows savvy SEO professionals to build strategies resilient to platform shifts and deeply aligned with Google’s evolving understanding of trust and relevance. Forget chasing G+, but absorb its lessons.

FAQs: Google Plus SEO Legacy

Q: Does Google Plus still exist? Can I get SEO value from it?
A: No, Google Plus officially shut down for consumers in April 2019 and for enterprise users (G Suite) in April 2020. All public-facing Google Plus content and profiles were deleted. There is zero active SEO value to be gained from G+ itself.

Q: Were Google+ “1s” (+1s) a direct Google ranking factor?
A: While Google experimented with social signals like +1s during G+’s active years, they were never confirmed as a major direct ranking factor. Google became increasingly explicit post-G+ that pure social share counts or likes/followers (on any platform) are not ranking signals. Their value lies in driving traffic, brand amplification, and potential citations.

Q: Does Author Rank still exist since Author Markup is gone?
A: The specific “Author Rank” algorithm utilizing G+ profiles didn’t survive. However, the core concept—evaluating the credibility, expertise, and authority of content creators—evolved significantly into what we now know as E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Showing author credentials remains critically important, especially for YMYL topics, just without the G+ dependency.

Q: How did Google Plus affect Local SEO?
A: G+’s Local Business pages merged with Places pages to form Google My Business (GMB), which is now Google Business Profile (GBP). The data structure, reviews, and core ranking factors for local businesses were largely forged during the G+ era. Optimizing your Google Business Profile is now essential for local SEO visibility—this is the most direct and lasting legacy of G+ for many businesses.

Q: What should I do with old links pointing to Google+ on my website?
A: Clean them up! Any URLs pointing to plus.google.com/[ID] will result in broken links (404 errors). Use tools like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console to identify these links. Update them to point to relevant, live content (e.g., link to an author’s bio page on your site, your GBP profile, or relevant alternative pages). Removing broken links improves user experience and site health.

Q: What was the biggest learning for SEO from the Google Plus shutdown?
A: Never become overly reliant on a single third-party platform, especially one owned by Google, for critical SEO success. Build your strategy around assets you control (your website, email list, owned content) and diversify traffic sources/platforms. Platforms change or vanish—accordingly, your core value proposition should reside safely on your own domain.