Again I am mystified by Google minutiae

[naturedance]

After seeing recent articles about the new Google or Gmail account signup process now including G+ automatically with both... I remain mystified... previously, it had been my understanding that the age requirements and identity requirements for a Gmail account and a basic non-Gmail Google account were quite different from the age and identity requirements for a G+ account. Have the TOSes changed for the various Google services to synchronize age and identity requirements, coinciding with the change to the Google account creation process?

Additional references:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399151,00.asp
http://techland.time.com/2012/01/20/want-a-google-account-now-youre-automatically-signed-up-for-google/
http://www.slashgear.com/google-pushing-google-and-gmail-on-new-sign-ups-20210244/
http://lifehacker.com/5877927/how-to-sign-up-for-a-google-account-without-being-forced-into-google%252B-or-gmail

(cross-posted to my personal journal)