Where should issues with Google Play Services (e.g., fused location provider) be reported? Google is bundling a number of services, including Location Services, in the Google Play Services application instead of including them in the open-source Android platform.  Main reasons behind this are to support frequent updates of core services without requiring OEMs to update the entire platform, and to hide the implementation of some proprietary services.

The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a good forum for reporting issues with Google Play Services and Location Services (e.g., problems with the new fused location provider).

Here are the current options for reporting Android issues that I'm aware of, and none of them seem like the right place to report a Google Play Services issue:


"Support" link at bottom of Google Play Services page - Most obvious place to start, but it redirects to the generic Android Developer Support page.
Google Product Forum for Android - This forum seems on-topic for Google Play Services, but was closed as of Sept 3, 2013.
Android Open-Source Project (AOSP) issue tracker - This is where the "Report a platform bug" link on the Android Developer Support page points.  This issue tracker is for AOSP, and since Google Play Services is independent of AOSP, issues related to Google Play Services and network Location Services implemented by Google (including the older network provider) are off-topic here.  
android-platform Google Group - Also aimed at AOSP, not Google products.
android-developers Google Group - Description of the group says to post bugs/feature requests to the AOSP issue tracker (#3 above).  Also, it appears most questions related to location/ Google Play Services posted to this group are rarely addressed by the Android team and replies mainly come from other developers.
StackOverflow - There are Google Play Services / location tags here, but there is no indication that any issues are being observed or triaged by Google.
Google Maps API Issue Tracker - Android Maps API v2 - This feature of the issue tracker is specifically for the Android Maps API v2 (which is part of Google Play Services), but not Google Play Service in general and not for Location Services, which are separate from the Maps API v2.


What is the proper location to report issues with Google Play Services and Location Services?

I'm primarily interested in reporting issues from a developer's perspective.
Then post your question where it's sure to be seen: googleplus help. That link is, after all, one of the few links the closed page offers with any actual developer interaction. I looked, and saw many questions were way off-topic, but the questioners were usually led to the right forum, or had their question answered. And you can always point back to the "closed forum" page you referenced as your reason for being there. You have a legitimate question; let them know that, the only way that seems possible!