As communicated in December 2018, Google stated that Google+ would remain available in U-M Google after Google retires its consumer version of G+. However, the ITS Collaboration Services team has recently become aware that there are important exceptions that could affect some campus accounts in Google+. (Be sure to read Google’s documentation for details and the most recent updates.)
What is staying and going away with U-M Google+?
According to the latest information from Google, the following U-M Google+ content will stay, with some restrictions:
- Communities: Communities that have at least one G Suite owner (i.e. U-M user or other individual with a G Suite account) will remain. See how to add owners to Communities. However, posts made by Brand Accounts and consumer Google+ users will be deleted from Communities.
- Collections: Existing Collections will remain for now. However, U-M users will not be able to create new collections or add content to a collection that is not domain-restricted.
- Circles: Existing Circles will remain for now. However, U-M users will not be able to create new circles, add people without a Google+ account to existing circles, or share a post to a circle. In addition, after the consumer shutdown, non-G Suite users will be removed from circles.
According to the latest information from Google, the following U-M Google+ content will be deleted starting April 2, 2019:
- Pages, like the U-M Google page
- Gadgets embedded in classic Sites (not the new version of Sites)
- Events
What do I need to do?
If you want to keep your content, be sure to download your Google+ data before April 2, 2019. Some alternative services to consider include:
- Google Sites: To create a public, web-based presence.
- Google Groups: U-M Discussion Groups to send and archive communications.
The ITS Collaboration Services team has been in contact with Google+ service administrators at Google and will continue to provide updates as they become available.
