Google+ is divided into two separate products

Google Vice President Bradley Horowitz in his Google+ confirmed that the social network of the search giant is now two separate products - Photos and Streams. The first will combine the ability to upload, process and manage photos, and all social functions - texts and communication - will be available under the name Streams.

Many online publications have linked this division with the imminent "death" of Google+. Similar rumors have been circulating in the community for quite some time. For example, last April, TechCrunch reporters reportedthat, according to their information, the Google+ engineering team working on Photos and Hangouts has moved to the Android division. True, later, Google denied this information, but did it against the background of the announced dismissal of the head of Google+, Vick Gundotra, who had worked in the search giant for eight years, which did not add to the statement's credibility.

In general, the community recognizes that Google+ has not been able to achieve the weight and significance of its main competitor - Facebook. Last year, in an interview with the New York Times, Bradley Horowitz toldthat the social network has 540 million users, but at least half of them do not use their account. At about the same time, Zuckerberg announced about 890 million active accounts, most of which go online at least once a week.

To some extent, Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Google, recently added fuel to the fire. He explained in an interview with Forbesthat looks at photo management options, chat (probably meaning Hangouts) and Google+ Steams as separate products, rather than a single social network. He did not tell how exactly the separation will be performed, but noted that social opportunities play a significant role in uniting all Google services around the user. Therefore, as you might assume, the rumors about the closure of Google+ so far remain only rumors.