Google+ head Vic Gundotra quits as he prepares for 'new journey'
Vic Gundotra, driving force behind the Google+ social network, has announced he is to quit following an eight year stint at the top of the search giant.
In a blog post made on the Google+ site Gundotra remained coy about his reasons for leaving, saying only that it was ‘time for a new journey’.
Lavishing generous praise on colleagues Gundotra expressed pride at ‘a group of people who built social at Google against the skepticism of so many.’ He said: “… now is the time for a new journey. A continuation. An "and then". I am excited about what's next. But this isn't the day to talk about that. This is a day to celebrate the past 8 years. To cry. And smile. And to look forward to the journey yet to come.”
Gundotra made headlines last year when he claimed Google + had reached 300m active users but this figure was thrown into doubt by critics who pointed out that this included many whose only action was to click a notification icon at the top of their screen.
Google chief executive Larry Page took the opportunity to confirm that the company will continue to invest in the initiative with speculation suggesting that the current vice president of engineering at Google +, David Besbris, is being lined up for the role.