Data Migration: I'm strongly considering changing my recommendation

Data Migration: I'm strongly considering changing my recommendation

Since the G+ sunset was first announced, I've been recommending people run a Google Data Takeout, if they are or might be interested in saving their Google+ content.

The reasons for this were twofold: preserving data early before departures or deletions removed content they might wish to preserve, and to test out the process itself.

The announcement was made nearly three months ago, and we have four months until the final G+ shutdown. Though there are some channels open with Google to improve the Google Data Takeout process and provide for usable conversions and imports to new platforms, there's a stark fact facing us.

Google Data Takeout is unreliable, complicated, vastly oversized, and at best difficult to work with. For all practical intents IT DOES NOT WORK FOR ITS STATED PURPOSE.


Google have communicated effectively nothing about this publicly. My read from the Google+ Help community is that Google are not talking to the mods there -- Google+ Top Contributors and Product Experts. I've not been direct party to discussions, but the ones I've been aware of have been at best limited and problematic.

Since 21 October I've contacted Google, privately and publicly, multiple times, through multiple channels, requesting answers to questions of general interest. Google have not answered, directly or indirectly, at all. We're facing the end of 2018 under these circumstances.

It's true that Google have largely been in year-end shutdown mode for the past two weeks. But it is also true that Google cut another four months from the schedule originally published, without any prior warning, and might well do so again. The schedule, and any applicable constraints, are entirely within Google's control. And Google have proved themselves to be an exceptionally unreliable partner.


Weighed against this, there's an alternative presently available, from a vendor who's served the Google+ and other social media communities for years, which works, and while it's not free, is reasonably low cost. It appears reasonably secure, in that it runs completely on the user's own desktop system. It's not suitable for all cases, such as mobile-only or bandwidth-capped users. But it does offer a viable option for many, and is the only present option for Google+ Community owners, mods, and members who wish to preserve content there, as a whole.

There are several other tools either in development or working for some cases, though not as fully developed as the one above.


I'm leaning strongly toward specifically recommending the Friends+Me Google+ Exporter as a primary export option instead of Google Data Takeout. F+MGE works, produces usable extracts, can port directly to a Wordpress or Blogger site, and handles Communities. It does not presently export photos, though that's a feature in development.

I've had several email and G+ exchanges with the author, but otherwise have no interest. I've still not used the tool, though I've seen useful results from those who have. I should probably use it before I do officially change my position, which ... is another item on my to-do list.

Thoughts on this?