Homepages still referencing Google+ by platform (all crawled homepages, no date limit)
| Platform | Homepages | Reference plus.google.com | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordPress | 15,270,090 | 216,758 | 1.42% |
| Wix | 36,199 | 453 | 1.25% |
| Shopify | 1,472,362 | 9,775 | 0.66% |
| Squarespace | 387,830 | 569 | 0.15% |
Source: PageSpeed Matters, Oct 2026. All crawled homepages with no date limit; references anywhere in the page code.
Summary
Google+ shut down in April 2019. Every link, share button and profile tag that points to it now leads nowhere, and any script still loaded for it is dead weight. Leftovers like these are a simple sign of how often a site's templates get reviewed.
We searched homepage code for plus.google.com. 300,110 homepages crawled in 2026 still reference it, 0.74% of 40.3M. WordPress sites hold on to it the most: 1.42% of all crawled WordPress homepages still reference Google+, about 1 in 70, against 0.66% of Shopify and 0.15% of Squarespace homepages.
What we measured
This study uses three bases, and the numbers from each should be read on their own.
The headline count covers the 40,295,452 homepages crawled from 1 Jan to 14 Oct 2026. We searched their page code for the exact terms plus.google.com, vine.co and periscope.tv. A match means the domain appears anywhere in the page code, including hidden templates and scripts, not necessarily as a visible link. The vine.co count may also match longer domains that start the same way, so treat it as approximate.
The platform split uses all crawled homepages with no date limit, so its totals are larger than the 2026 count.
The popularity figures come from a separate sample: HTTP Archive's September 2026 mobile crawl of 782,850 top 1M homepages. There we looked only at head tags and script requests, not the full page code, so it measures something narrower.
Google+ is still in the page code of 300,110 homepages
Of 40.3M homepages crawled since 1 Jan 2026, 300,110 still reference plus.google.com somewhere in their page code. That is 0.74%, a small share of the web but a large number of sites.
Other closed platforms linger too, on a smaller scale. 17,897 homepages reference vine.co and 282 reference periscope.tv.
Most of these references likely sit in footers, share-button rows and social profile settings that were filled in years ago and never revisited. Nobody notices them, because they look like any other icon until someone clicks.
WordPress sites hold on to Google+ the most
Across all crawled homepages, with no date limit, 1.42% of 15,270,090 WordPress homepages still reference Google+, about 1 in 70. Wix is close behind at 1.25% of 36,199 homepages (453 sites). Shopify sits at 0.66% and Squarespace at 0.15%.
WordPress also accounts for 39.0% of the 556,488 sites in that set that still reference Google+.
Older WordPress themes and social plugins often shipped with a Google+ field or share button built in, and those settings can survive theme updates for years. Platforms that control their own templates can remove a dead network for every site at once, which may explain the much lower Squarespace figure, though Wix, also a hosted builder, sits close to WordPress.
1.42%
Share of 15,270,090 crawled WordPress homepages, with no date limit, that still reference plus.google.com, about 1 in 70.
Bigger sites are more likely to keep the Google+ head tag
The HTTP Archive sample shows a narrower leftover: a Google+ page declared in the head of the homepage, the kind of tag once used to connect a site to its Google+ profile. 1,563 of 782,850 top 1M homepages (0.20%) still have one.
Here, bigger sites are the worst offenders. 0.32% of Top 100K homepages (239 of 74,808) still declare a Google+ page, against 0.21% for sites ranked 100K to 500K and 0.17% for 500K to 1M. Larger sites were likely more active on Google+ while it was live, and their head templates may not have been reviewed since.
Some sites go further and still load Google's +1 button script. 1,159 top 1M homepages (0.15%) request it, at about 0.15% in every popularity tier. That is a script request for a button that no longer does anything.
What this means for your site
Dead social links are quick to find and quick to remove.
- Search your homepage source for plus.google.com, and do the same for other closed networks such as vine.co and periscope.tv.
- Check your theme's social settings, footer, header and share-button plugin, since those are the usual sources.
- Look in the head of your pages for old publisher or author tags pointing to Google+, and remove any script request for the +1 button.
- While you are there, check the rest of your social icons still point to live profiles.
These are small fixes, but they remove dead requests and broken links, and they are a good prompt for a wider template review.
Sources
- PageSpeed Matters analysis of 40,295,452 homepages crawled 1 Jan to 14 Oct 2026, plus all crawled homepages with no date limit for the platform split, October 2026
- HTTP Archive crawl of the top 1M sites, September 2026, mobile homepages
Frequently asked questions
How many websites still link to Google+?
300,110 homepages crawled since 1 Jan 2026 still reference plus.google.com in their page code, 0.74% of the 40.3M crawled in 2026.
Which platform has the most leftover Google+ links?
WordPress. 1.42% of all crawled WordPress homepages still reference Google+, about 1 in 70, against 0.66% of Shopify and 0.15% of Squarespace homepages. WordPress makes up 39.0% of all sites still referencing it.
How do I find old Google+ links on my site?
Search your page source for plus.google.com and check your theme's social settings, footer and share-button plugin. Also look for Google+ tags in the page head and any request for the +1 button script.
Dead social links and scripts are easy to clear out, and a periodic template review keeps them from coming back. Need help with this? See our website maintenance services.