Social network Google+ has been one of the most divisive and in some cases straight-up unpopular services from the tech giant. Now the company has announced some significant changes to the service.

Perhaps most noteworthy is that YouTube users will no longer require a Google+ account to upload videos or create a channel. Comments made on YouTube will no longer be directly linked with Google+.

However, the company is warning YouTube users not to try and remove their 'Plus' account yet, otherwise they will delete their channel - the removal functionality will be available in a few months.

Other Google+ services are also undergoing a change. The social network's photo service will be moved to the new Google Photos app, while location sharing will now be put into Google Hangouts.

In a blog post, the company says, "in the coming months, a Google Account will be all you’ll need to share content, communicate with contacts, create a YouTube channel and more, all across Google.

"When we launched Google+, we set out to help people discover, share and connect across Google like they do in real life. While we got certain things right, we made a few choices that, in hindsight, we’ve needed to rethink," they explain.