diff --git a/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/http/HttpRequest.java b/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/http/HttpRequest.java
index cfeda65b7..1ab0dfeb1 100644
--- a/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/http/HttpRequest.java
+++ b/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/http/HttpRequest.java
@@ -218,6 +218,9 @@ static String executeAndGetValueOfSomeCustomHeader(HttpRequest request) {
   /** OpenCensus tracing component. */
   private Tracer tracer = OpenCensusUtils.getTracer();
 
+  /** Prefix for tracing span name. */
+  private static final String traceSpanNamePrefix = "Sent." + HttpRequest.class.getName() + ".";
+
   /**
    * @param transport HTTP transport
    * @param requestMethod HTTP request method or {@code null} for none
@@ -862,12 +865,9 @@ public HttpResponse execute() throws IOException {
     Preconditions.checkNotNull(requestMethod);
     Preconditions.checkNotNull(url);
 
-    Span span = tracer
-        .spanBuilder(OpenCensusUtils.SPAN_NAME_HTTP_REQUEST_EXECUTE)
-        .setRecordEvents(OpenCensusUtils.isRecordEvent())
-        .startSpan();
+    Span span = tracer.spanBuilder(traceSpanNamePrefix + "execute").startSpan();
     do {
-      span.addAnnotation("retry #" + (numRetries - retriesRemaining));
+      span.addAnnotation("retry #" + numRetries);
       // Cleanup any unneeded response from a previous iteration
       if (response != null) {
         response.ignore();
@@ -911,7 +911,7 @@ public HttpResponse execute() throws IOException {
           headers.setUserAgent(originalUserAgent + " " + USER_AGENT_SUFFIX);
         }
       }
-      OpenCensusUtils.propagateTracingContext(span, headers);
+      OpenCensusUtils.propagateTracingContext(headers);
 
       // headers
       HttpHeaders.serializeHeaders(headers, logbuf, curlbuf, logger, lowLevelHttpRequest);
@@ -995,12 +995,8 @@ public HttpResponse execute() throws IOException {
       // switch tracing scope to current span
       @SuppressWarnings("MustBeClosedChecker")
       Scope ws = tracer.withSpan(span);
-      OpenCensusUtils.recordSentMessageEvent(span, lowLevelHttpRequest.getContentLength());
       try {
         LowLevelHttpResponse lowLevelHttpResponse = lowLevelHttpRequest.execute();
-        if (lowLevelHttpResponse != null) {
-          OpenCensusUtils.recordReceivedMessageEvent(span, lowLevelHttpResponse.getContentLength());
-        }
         // Flag used to indicate if an exception is thrown before the response is constructed.
         boolean responseConstructed = false;
         try {
diff --git a/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/util/OpenCensusUtils.java b/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/util/OpenCensusUtils.java
index 112612711..836706021 100644
--- a/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/util/OpenCensusUtils.java
+++ b/google-http-client/src/main/java/com/google/api/client/util/OpenCensusUtils.java
@@ -15,22 +15,19 @@
 package com.google.api.client.util;
 
 import com.google.api.client.http.HttpHeaders;
-import com.google.api.client.http.HttpRequest;
+import com.google.api.client.http.HttpResponse;
 import com.google.api.client.http.HttpStatusCodes;
-import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;
 
 import io.opencensus.contrib.http.util.HttpPropagationUtil;
 import io.opencensus.trace.BlankSpan;
 import io.opencensus.trace.EndSpanOptions;
-import io.opencensus.trace.NetworkEvent;
-import io.opencensus.trace.NetworkEvent.Type;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Span;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Status;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Tracer;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Tracing;
 import io.opencensus.trace.propagation.TextFormat;
 
-import java.util.Collections;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 import javax.annotation.Nullable;
@@ -38,56 +35,33 @@
 /**
  * Utilities for Census monitoring and tracing.
  *
- * @author Hailong Wen
  * @since 1.24
+ * @author Hailong Wen
  */
 public class OpenCensusUtils {
 
-  private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(OpenCensusUtils.class.getName());
-
-  /**
-   * Span name for tracing {@link HttpRequest#execute()}.
-   */
-  public static final String SPAN_NAME_HTTP_REQUEST_EXECUTE =
-      "Sent." + HttpRequest.class.getName() + ".execute";
-
-  /**
-   * OpenCensus tracing component. When no OpenCensus implementation is provided, it will return a
-   * no-op tracer.
-   */
-  private static Tracer tracer = Tracing.getTracer();
-
-  /**
-   * Sequence id generator for message event.
-   */
-  private static AtomicLong idGenerator = new AtomicLong();
+  private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(OpenCensusUtils.class.getName());
 
   /**
-   * Whether spans should be recorded locally. Defaults to true.
+   * OpenCensus tracing component.
+   * When no OpenCensus implementation is provided, it will return a no-op tracer.
    */
-  private static volatile boolean isRecordEvent = true;
+  static Tracer tracer = Tracing.getTracer();
 
   /**
    * {@link TextFormat} used in tracing context propagation.
    */
   @Nullable
-  @VisibleForTesting
-  static volatile TextFormat propagationTextFormat = null;
+  static TextFormat propagationTextFormat = null;
 
   /**
-   * {@link TextFormat.Setter} for {@link #propagationTextFormat}.
+   * {@link TextFormat.Setter} for {@link activeTextFormat}.
    */
   @Nullable
-  @VisibleForTesting
-  static volatile TextFormat.Setter propagationTextFormatSetter = null;
+  static TextFormat.Setter propagationTextFormatSetter = null;
 
   /**
    * Sets the {@link TextFormat} used in context propagation.
-   *
-   * <p>This API allows users of google-http-client to specify other text format, or disable context
-   * propagation by setting it to {@code null}. It should be used along with {@link
-   * #setPropagationTextFormatSetter} for setting purpose. </p>
-   *
    * @param textFormat the text format.
    */
   public static void setPropagationTextFormat(@Nullable TextFormat textFormat) {
@@ -96,28 +70,12 @@ public static void setPropagationTextFormat(@Nullable TextFormat textFormat) {
 
   /**
    * Sets the {@link TextFormat.Setter} used in context propagation.
-   *
-   * <p>This API allows users of google-http-client to specify other text format setter, or disable
-   * context propagation by setting it to {@code null}. It should be used along with {@link
-   * #setPropagationTextFormat} for setting purpose. </p>
-   *
    * @param textFormatSetter the {@code TextFormat.Setter} for the text format.
    */
   public static void setPropagationTextFormatSetter(@Nullable TextFormat.Setter textFormatSetter) {
     propagationTextFormatSetter = textFormatSetter;
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Sets whether spans should be recorded locally.
-   *
-   * <p> This API allows users of google-http-client to turn on/off local span collection. </p>
-   *
-   * @param recordEvent record span locally if true.
-   */
-  public static void setIsRecordEvent(boolean recordEvent) {
-    isRecordEvent = recordEvent;
-  }
-
   /**
    * Returns the tracing component of OpenCensus.
    *
@@ -127,27 +85,15 @@ public static Tracer getTracer() {
     return tracer;
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Returns whether spans should be recorded locally.
-   *
-   * @return whether spans should be recorded locally.
-   */
-  public static boolean isRecordEvent() {
-    return isRecordEvent;
-  }
-
   /**
    * Propagate information of current tracing context. This information will be injected into HTTP
    * header.
-   *
-   * @param span the span to be propagated.
-   * @param headers the headers used in propagation.
    */
-  public static void propagateTracingContext(Span span, HttpHeaders headers) {
-    Preconditions.checkArgument(span != null, "span should not be null.");
-    Preconditions.checkArgument(headers != null, "headers should not be null.");
+  public static void propagateTracingContext(HttpHeaders headers) {
+    Preconditions.checkNotNull(headers);
     if (propagationTextFormat != null && propagationTextFormatSetter != null) {
-      if (!span.equals(BlankSpan.INSTANCE)) {
+      Span span = tracer.getCurrentSpan();
+      if (span != null && !span.equals(BlankSpan.INSTANCE)) {
         propagationTextFormat.inject(span.getContext(), headers, propagationTextFormatSetter);
       }
     }
@@ -161,7 +107,7 @@ public static void propagateTracingContext(Span span, HttpHeaders headers) {
    */
   public static EndSpanOptions getEndSpanOptions(@Nullable Integer statusCode) {
     // Always sample the span, but optionally export it.
-    EndSpanOptions.Builder builder = EndSpanOptions.builder();
+    EndSpanOptions.Builder builder = EndSpanOptions.builder().setSampleToLocalSpanStore(true);
     if (statusCode == null) {
       builder.setStatus(Status.UNKNOWN);
     } else if (!HttpStatusCodes.isSuccess(statusCode)) {
@@ -193,49 +139,6 @@ public static EndSpanOptions getEndSpanOptions(@Nullable Integer statusCode) {
     return builder.build();
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Records a new message event which contains the size of the request content. Note that the size
-   * represents the message size in application layer, i.e., content-length.
-   *
-   * @param span The {@code span} in which the send event occurs.
-   * @param size Size of the request.
-   */
-  public static void recordSentMessageEvent(Span span, long size) {
-    recordMessageEvent(span, size, Type.SENT);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Records a new message event which contains the size of the response content. Note that the size
-   * represents the message size in application layer, i.e., content-length.
-   *
-   * @param span The {@code span} in which the receive event occurs.
-   * @param size Size of the response.
-   */
-  public static void recordReceivedMessageEvent(Span span, long size) {
-    recordMessageEvent(span, size, Type.RECV);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Records a message event of a certain {@link NetowrkEvent.Type}. This method is package
-   * protected since {@link NetworkEvent} might be deprecated in future releases.
-   *
-   * @param span The {@code span} in which the event occurs.
-   * @param size Size of the message.
-   * @param eventType The {@code NetworkEvent.Type} of the message event.
-   */
-  @VisibleForTesting
-  static void recordMessageEvent(Span span, long size, Type eventType) {
-    Preconditions.checkArgument(span != null, "span should not be null.");
-    if (size < 0) {
-      size = 0;
-    }
-    NetworkEvent event = NetworkEvent
-        .builder(eventType, idGenerator.getAndIncrement())
-        .setUncompressedMessageSize(size)
-        .build();
-    span.addNetworkEvent(event);
-  }
-
   static {
     try {
       propagationTextFormat = HttpPropagationUtil.getCloudTraceFormat();
@@ -246,16 +149,7 @@ public void put(HttpHeaders carrier, String key, String value) {
         }
       };
     } catch (Exception e) {
-      logger.log(
-          Level.WARNING, "Cannot initialize default OpenCensus HTTP propagation text format.", e);
-    }
-
-    try {
-      Tracing.getExportComponent().getSampledSpanStore().registerSpanNamesForCollection(
-          Collections.<String>singletonList(SPAN_NAME_HTTP_REQUEST_EXECUTE));
-    } catch (Exception e) {
-      logger.log(
-          Level.WARNING, "Cannot register default OpenCensus span names for collection.", e);
+      LOGGER.log(Level.WARNING, "Cannot initiate OpenCensus modules, tracing disabled", e);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/google-http-client/src/test/java/com/google/api/client/util/OpenCensusUtilsTest.java b/google-http-client/src/test/java/com/google/api/client/util/OpenCensusUtilsTest.java
index 069b051ec..7b75c0f01 100644
--- a/google-http-client/src/test/java/com/google/api/client/util/OpenCensusUtilsTest.java
+++ b/google-http-client/src/test/java/com/google/api/client/util/OpenCensusUtilsTest.java
@@ -16,22 +16,18 @@
 
 import com.google.api.client.http.HttpHeaders;
 
-import io.opencensus.trace.BlankSpan;
+import io.opencensus.common.Scope;
 import io.opencensus.trace.EndSpanOptions;
-import io.opencensus.trace.Annotation;
-import io.opencensus.trace.AttributeValue;
-import io.opencensus.trace.Link;
-import io.opencensus.trace.NetworkEvent;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Span;
 import io.opencensus.trace.SpanContext;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Status;
 import io.opencensus.trace.Tracer;
 import io.opencensus.trace.propagation.TextFormat;
 import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
 import junit.framework.TestCase;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
 
 /**
  * Tests {@link OpenCensusUtils}.
@@ -40,11 +36,9 @@
  */
 public class OpenCensusUtilsTest extends TestCase {
 
+  @Rule public ExpectedException thrown = ExpectedException.none();
   TextFormat mockTextFormat;
   TextFormat.Setter mockTextFormatSetter;
-  TextFormat originTextFormat;
-  TextFormat.Setter originTextFormatSetter;
-  Span mockSpan;
   HttpHeaders headers;
   Tracer tracer;
 
@@ -54,7 +48,7 @@ public OpenCensusUtilsTest(String testName) {
 
   @Override
   public void setUp() {
-    mockTextFormat = new TextFormat() {
+    TextFormat mockTextFormat = new TextFormat() {
       @Override
       public List<String> fields() {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException("TextFormat.fields");
@@ -70,7 +64,7 @@ public <C> SpanContext extract(C carrier, Getter<C> getter) {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException("TextFormat.extract");
       }
     };
-    mockTextFormatSetter = new TextFormat.Setter<HttpHeaders>() {
+    TextFormat.Setter mockTextFormatSetter = new TextFormat.Setter<HttpHeaders>() {
       @Override
       public void put(HttpHeaders carrier, String key, String value) {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException("TextFormat.Setter.put");
@@ -78,33 +72,6 @@ public void put(HttpHeaders carrier, String key, String value) {
     };
     headers = new HttpHeaders();
     tracer = OpenCensusUtils.getTracer();
-    mockSpan = new Span(tracer.getCurrentSpan().getContext(), null) {
-
-      @Override
-      public void addAnnotation(String description, Map<String, AttributeValue> attributes) {}
-
-      @Override
-      public void addAnnotation(Annotation annotation) {}
-
-      @Override
-      public void addNetworkEvent(NetworkEvent event) {
-        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Span.addNetworkEvent");
-      }
-
-      @Override
-      public void addLink(Link link) {}
-
-      @Override
-      public void end(EndSpanOptions options) {}
-    };
-    originTextFormat = OpenCensusUtils.propagationTextFormat;
-    originTextFormatSetter = OpenCensusUtils.propagationTextFormatSetter;
-  }
-
-  @Override
-  public void tearDown() {
-    OpenCensusUtils.setPropagationTextFormat(originTextFormat);
-    OpenCensusUtils.setPropagationTextFormatSetter(originTextFormatSetter);
   }
 
   public void testInitializatoin() {
@@ -125,115 +92,108 @@ public void testSetPropagationTextFormatSetter() {
 
   public void testPropagateTracingContextInjection() {
     OpenCensusUtils.setPropagationTextFormat(mockTextFormat);
-    try {
-      OpenCensusUtils.propagateTracingContext(mockSpan, headers);
-      fail("expected " + UnsupportedOperationException.class);
-    } catch (UnsupportedOperationException e) {
-      assertEquals(e.getMessage(), "TextFormat.inject");
-    }
+    Span span = OpenCensusUtils.getTracer().spanBuilder("test").startSpan();
+    Scope scope = OpenCensusUtils.getTracer().withSpan(span);
+    thrown.expect(UnsupportedOperationException.class);
+    thrown.expectMessage("TextFormat.inject");
+    OpenCensusUtils.propagateTracingContext(headers);
+    scope.close();
+    span.end();
   }
 
   public void testPropagateTracingContextHeader() {
     OpenCensusUtils.setPropagationTextFormatSetter(mockTextFormatSetter);
-    try {
-      OpenCensusUtils.propagateTracingContext(mockSpan, headers);
-      fail("expected " + UnsupportedOperationException.class);
-    } catch (UnsupportedOperationException e) {
-      assertEquals(e.getMessage(), "TextFormat.Setter.put");
-    }
-  }
-
-  public void testPropagateTracingContextNullSpan() {
-    OpenCensusUtils.setPropagationTextFormat(mockTextFormat);
-    try {
-      OpenCensusUtils.propagateTracingContext(null, headers);
-      fail("expected " + IllegalArgumentException.class);
-    } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
-      assertEquals(e.getMessage(), "span should not be null.");
-    }
-  }
-
-  public void testPropagateTracingContextNullHeaders() {
-    OpenCensusUtils.setPropagationTextFormat(mockTextFormat);
-    try {
-      OpenCensusUtils.propagateTracingContext(mockSpan, null);
-      fail("expected " + IllegalArgumentException.class);
-    } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
-      assertEquals(e.getMessage(), "headers should not be null.");
-    }
+    Span span = OpenCensusUtils.getTracer().spanBuilder("test").startSpan();
+    Scope scope = OpenCensusUtils.getTracer().withSpan(span);
+    thrown.expect(UnsupportedOperationException.class);
+    thrown.expectMessage("TextFormat.Setter.put");
+    OpenCensusUtils.propagateTracingContext(headers);
+    scope.close();
+    span.end();
   }
 
   public void testPropagateTracingContextInvalidSpan() {
     OpenCensusUtils.setPropagationTextFormat(mockTextFormat);
     // No injection. No exceptions should be thrown.
-    OpenCensusUtils.propagateTracingContext(BlankSpan.INSTANCE, headers);
+    OpenCensusUtils.propagateTracingContext(headers);
   }
 
   public void testGetEndSpanOptionsNoResponse() {
-    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions.builder().setStatus(Status.UNKNOWN).build();
+    EndSpanOptions expected =
+        EndSpanOptions.builder().setSampleToLocalSpanStore(true).setStatus(Status.UNKNOWN).build();
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(null));
   }
 
   public void testGetEndSpanOptionsSuccess() {
-    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions.builder().setStatus(Status.OK).build();
+    EndSpanOptions expected =
+        EndSpanOptions.builder().setSampleToLocalSpanStore(true).setStatus(Status.OK).build();
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(200));
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(201));
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(202));
   }
 
   public void testGetEndSpanOptionsBadRequest() {
-    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions.builder().setStatus(Status.INVALID_ARGUMENT).build();
+    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions
+        .builder()
+        .setSampleToLocalSpanStore(true)
+        .setStatus(Status.INVALID_ARGUMENT)
+        .build();
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(400));
   }
 
   public void testGetEndSpanOptionsUnauthorized() {
-    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions.builder().setStatus(Status.UNAUTHENTICATED).build();
+    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions
+        .builder()
+        .setSampleToLocalSpanStore(true)
+        .setStatus(Status.UNAUTHENTICATED)
+        .build();
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(401));
   }
 
   public void testGetEndSpanOptionsForbidden() {
-    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions.builder().setStatus(Status.PERMISSION_DENIED).build();
+    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions
+        .builder()
+        .setSampleToLocalSpanStore(true)
+        .setStatus(Status.PERMISSION_DENIED)
+        .build();
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(403));
   }
 
   public void testGetEndSpanOptionsNotFound() {
-    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions.builder().setStatus(Status.NOT_FOUND).build();
+    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions
+        .builder()
+        .setSampleToLocalSpanStore(true)
+        .setStatus(Status.NOT_FOUND)
+        .build();
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(404));
   }
 
   public void testGetEndSpanOptionsPreconditionFailed() {
-    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions.builder().setStatus(Status.FAILED_PRECONDITION).build();
+    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions
+        .builder()
+        .setSampleToLocalSpanStore(true)
+        .setStatus(Status.FAILED_PRECONDITION)
+        .build();
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(412));
   }
 
   public void testGetEndSpanOptionsServerError() {
-    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions.builder().setStatus(Status.UNAVAILABLE).build();
+    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions
+        .builder()
+        .setSampleToLocalSpanStore(true)
+        .setStatus(Status.UNAVAILABLE)
+        .build();
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(500));
   }
 
   public void testGetEndSpanOptionsOther() {
-    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions.builder().setStatus(Status.UNKNOWN).build();
+    EndSpanOptions expected = EndSpanOptions.builder()
+        .setSampleToLocalSpanStore(true)
+        .setStatus(Status.UNKNOWN)
+        .build();
     // test some random unsupported statuses
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(301));
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(402));
     assertEquals(expected, OpenCensusUtils.getEndSpanOptions(501));
   }
-
-  public void testRecordMessageEventInNullSpan() {
-    try {
-      OpenCensusUtils.recordMessageEvent(null, 0, NetworkEvent.Type.SENT);
-      fail("expected " + IllegalArgumentException.class);
-    } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
-      assertEquals(e.getMessage(), "span should not be null.");
-    }
-  }
-
-  public void testRecordMessageEvent() {
-    try {
-      OpenCensusUtils.recordMessageEvent(mockSpan, 0, NetworkEvent.Type.SENT);
-      fail("expected " + UnsupportedOperationException.class);
-    } catch (UnsupportedOperationException e) {
-      assertEquals(e.getMessage(), "Span.addNetworkEvent");
-    }
-  }
 }