The end of private Google Profiles

Post date: Jul 06, 2011 6:16:28 AM

Public profiles

This is a recent announcement from Google. It is part of the major overhaul associated with Google "Social" and the recently introduced Google+.

The purpose of Google Profiles is to enable you to manage your online identity. Today, nearly all Google Profiles are public. We believe that using Google Profiles to help people find and connect with you online is how the product is best used. Private profiles don’t allow this, so we have decided to require all profiles to be public.

Keep in mind that your full name and gender are the only required information that will be displayed on your profile; you’ll be able to edit or remove any other information that you don’t want to share. If you currently have a private profile but you do not wish to make your profile public, you can delete your profile. Or, you can simply do nothing. All private profiles will be deleted after July 31, 2011.

The important item to note is the last sentence: All private profiles will be deleted on August 1, 2011.

I wouldn't expect a reprieve, unlike Google Wave and other "deprecated" services or products. I'll probably be wrong, but this isn't something to take a chance with. Better to make a decision. If deciding not to "go public," download or save content associated with your profile somewhere else, and very soon.