Google is reportedly planning to split photos from Google+ to form an autonomous photo service with the aim to attract more users, Bloomberg reports.
Google, the world leader in internet search, hasn't found equivalent success in the social networking space like it did in other domains such as cloud services, innovative technologies and web search. Big players like Facebook and Twitter stole the limelight from Google's social networking sub domain, Google+. But the internet titan is building on its strengths to attract more users, a move that is widely adopted across the industry.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Google will separate Photos from Google+, bringing autonomy to its highly-productive photo service that is limited to users with a Google+ account. Citing people familiar with Google's plans, Bloomberg also revealed that the rumored standalone service may undergo rebranding to boost the impact of its independence. In a cryptic short statement, Google said, "Over here in our darkroom, we're always developing new ways for people to snap, share and say cheese."
Google launched its social networking service in 2011 and has yet to gain dominance over Facebook. But it offers unique features that other social networks do not have. Google+ Photos is a good example, which has gained positive response from photographers for its extensive photo editing features.
Google+ Photos allows users to store and share images with other users on the social network. The web giant also backs all the photos and offers various image enhancement and effective tools for a better looking image. By separating Photos from Google+, users will no longer require an account with Google+.
Google+ serves more than 500 million active users but reports point that only half of the reported number of users actually use the site, while the rest have simply created accounts to use Google+ related services. In comparison, Facebook is far ahead of Google+ in terms of both popularity and user base, which recently tallied up to 1.32 billion.
It is not clear what Google has in mind for its social network, mainly after it lost a key player involved in the development of Google+, Vic Gundotra in April. Before his departure, Gundotra used Photos as a way to attract more users to Google+ by introducing new features for improved editing of photos and videos in October last year.
