Google is scaling down its Google+ social network, and removing the need for a Google+ login across its products.

Previously, a Google+ account was a mandatory requirement for logging into YouTube, Maps, and the rest of Googles online services. That will no longer be the case, with YouTube one of the first sites to decouple from the social network.

“We made a few choices that, in hindsight, we’ve needed to rethink,” acknowledged Bradley Horowitz, VP of streams, photos, and sharing at Google in a blog post announcing the changes.

The decision to link Google+ and YouTube in particular proved controversial when it was introduced in 2013, with tens of thousands of users registering their displeasure with the move through negative YouTube comments and even online petitions.

At the time, it was generally accepted that, while the social network never managed to compete with the likes of Facebook and Twitter, Google wasnt worried if users only ever accessed Google+ once. Once theyd registered – with their real name and a few other bits of demographic data – Google could use this unified log-in to track users and target ads across its products.

It appears to be maintaining the unified log-in, now known simply as a Google Account, but this wont require the users real name or be publicly searchable. People who have previously created a Google+ account to access other services will be given better options for managing and removing those public profiles.

The changes will also see some of Google+s features moved over into other services where, as the announcement acknowledges, they really belong. This includes moving its photo functionality into the dedicated Google Photos app, and its location sharing features into Hangouts and other apps.

Its all part of an attempt to create a “more focused Google+ experience”, according to Horowitz – but its hard not to see the changes as a death knoll for Googles attempt at a social network, at least in its current form.