Comment Mandatory G+ signup clarification (Score 2) 171
And since new Google account users are reportedly now forced to join Google+
Not quite. There are ways to create a Google account without Google+ being tacked on.
For example, if you go to http://mail.google.com/mail/signup and create a Gmail account, it will automatically make a Google account as part of the process (of course). However using the above link does NOT automatically create a Google+ account. I know this because I did so yesterday, as I specifically wanted to make a new Google account without G+.
Of course, you need to know this either through research or someone telling you beforehand. All other ways of creating a Google account seem to force G+ unfortunately. Google sucks sometimes.