David Besbris became head of Google+ in April 2014. In October 2014, he proclaimed that Google was invested in its underwhelming social network "for the long haul." Now, less than a year after he took the job, Besbris is reportedly out as Google+ lead. According to TechCrunch, Besbris has been replaced by Bradley Horowitz, a Google VP of product who's been with Google+ from the start.

It took six months for Google to offer an official statement on the direction of its social media operation after previous boss Vic Gundrota departed. Besbris — who won the job over Horowitz in April 2014 — gave a lengthy interview to Recode in which he managed to say very little about Google+'s future plans and dodge questions about what the social network could improve on. Horowitz has already outpaced his predecessor, offering public comment on a Forbes interview given by Sundar Pichai, Google senior vice president of products, ahead of an appearance at this week's Mobile World Congress.

Pichai said that Google would increasingly focus on communications, photos and the Google+ Stream "as three important areas, rather than being thought of as one area," suggesting that photos and hangouts would be moving away from Google+. On his own Google+ page, Horowitz said that the team had been working hard on changes, but rumors suggest that the new boss might have fewer people to work with. The Google+ team is reportedly much depleted since Gundotra's departure — TechCrunch says the group, once made up of between 1,000 and 1,200 people, is now half that size.