Google+ Is Here for the Long Haul, Says New Chief David Besbris

Ever since Vic Gundotra, the executive who was credited with bringing the Google+ social network to life, announced his departure from the company in April, the future of Google+ began being questioned in multiple reports.

Talking to Kurt Wagner of Re/Code, Besbris said, "We're actually very happy with the progress of Google+. [CEO Larry Page] said this at the time that Vic transitioned that he's going to continue working on building this stuff, that he's very happy with it. The company is behind it. I have no idea where these rumours come from, to be honest with you."

On being asked about rumours that the Google+ team was being reduced in size and asked to move buildings, he responded, "We're the largest we've ever been. We weren't booted to any part of campus, we chose to come over here."

Besbris, asked about where Google+ needs to improve, said, "We've always had really good mobile apps for iOS and Android, but we can never have enough energy or focus on mobile. I'm really happy with what we have but I think it opens up new avenues and new frontiers, stuff we can do with location that we've never been able to do before. I think as an industry we've barely tapped the surface of what this can do."

On being asked about the long run goal of Google+, he said, "I don't think of it as an end game, I think we're in social - like we're in everything at Google - for the long haul. We said this at the beginning of the company, we make long-term bets, we make long-term decisions."

The search engine giant recently shelved the requirement to create a Google+ profile page while making a new Google account, a mandatory step since January 2012. This was considered one of the several signs that Google was planning to kill Google+. Another was when a report suggested Google Photos may soon be separated from Google+.

It's worth noting that Google recently acquired online poll company, Polar. The move was thought to refresh the company's focus on its efforts towards the Google+ platform.

Prior to this, Google updated its Google+ app for Android devices with the Chromecast feature to stream their social feed to a television, and the ability to edit Auto Awesome movies (only on select devices).