Google Is Planning To Carve A Photo Platform Out Of Google+

Google is reportedly planning to separate Google+ Photos from the rest of its social network in an effort to draw more users toward the photo platform, sources recently told Bloomberg.

The goal would be to make the photo service more independent, so that those who don't use Google+ often or don't have a profile can still use the service.

From Bloomberg's report, it sounds as if the photo platform would still work for Google+ users, but a Google+ profile will no longer be required.

The report comes about three months after Vic Gundotra, who previously headed the Google+ team, announced that he was leaving the company.

Following his departure, TechCrunch reported that Google plans to change its branding tactics for Google+. According to the report, Google+ would no longer be a social network aimed at competing with Facebook, but would instead exist as a platform.

This type of change wouldn't be surprising. Three years since its launch, Google+ hasn't reached the same popularity as other social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. In January, Facebook reported that it had reached 1.23 billion monthly active users.

Google claims to have 540 million monthly active Google+ users, but these numbers can be a little skewed since Google sometimes requires you to create a Google+ account to use its other services. The New York Times reported that only half of those users actually visit Google's social network.