Technology, Google+ | featured news

Google said it will discontinue several products, as the Internet giant narrows its focus and doubles down on new efforts, including its Google+ social networking service, under CEO Larry Page.

Google+, Google's new social networking service, might cautiously be called a hit. With 25 million visitors at last count, Google+ may well be the fastest-growing social network to launch thus far.

After a running start, Google+'s growth may be slowing down a bit. A report from Experian Hitwise found both traffic and users' average time on the social network fell last week in the U.S.

Several Google+ users have had their Google accounts — including Gmail, Docs and other services — frozen or purged, with a message telling them that they have violated the company’s Terms of Service. What do these users have in common? Many of them are not using their real, legal names on their profiles, ZDNet reported.

Well, now we know that Google+ is the equivalent of Alaska in the social networking world: At least two sites tracking Google+ users say more than 73 percent are male.

So, based on the buzz, Google+ is the geek-chic social-networking upstart that's going to challenge Facebook, right?

This was an enormous week for Google, and everyone who watches them. Just thinking about Google+, Google’s (re)entry into social media, is not thinking big enough. What we saw this week was the first big move of Google in the Larry Page era, bringing forth the first changes and efficiencies he seems to have been seeking when named chief executive last January. And the upshot is an effort to make even the Internet a subset of a Google product. Which may not be a bad thing.

Google took its biggest leap yet onto Facebook’s turf on Tuesday, introducing a social networking service called the Google+ project — which happens to look very much like Facebook.