Google said Monday it will close the consumer version of its online social network sooner than originally planned due to the discovery of a new software bug.
The Google+ social network will close in April — four months earlier than planned — and the internet giant will focus on operating a version tailored for businesses, according to G Suite product management vice president David Thacker.
Application programming interface programs (APIs) used by developers to access Google+ data will be shut down within 90 days, according to Thacker.
“With the discovery of this new bug, we have decided to expedite the shut-down of all Google+ APIs,” Thacker said in a blog post.
“While we recognize there are implications for developers, we want to ensure the protection of our users.”
A new bug introduced via a software update in November was discovered during routine testing and fixed, according to the company.
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Google determined that the vulnerability affected…
