Google wraps up some services
Google has recently announced, on its Official Blog, that will end some of their services, in order to focus on more popular (and more lucrative) ones. Some of those services will be extinct, but others will be transformed into other products' functionalities.
Google will then bet in a "fewer sevices, more quality" policy, merging functionalities and discarting other services. "We’ve never been afraid to try big, bold things, and that won’t change.
We’ll continue to take risks on interesting new technologies with a lot
of potential. But by targeting our resources more effectively, we can
focus on building world-changing products with a truly beautiful user
experience.", writes Alan Eustace, Google's Senior Vice President.
Some changes ahead:
On the short term
- The end of Google Buzz and its API, for a bigger focus on Google+, the social network. Existing contents may be checked through each user's Google Profile.
- End of Google Labs.
- End of Google Notebook.
- End of Sidewiki.
- The end of Code Search - that allows searching OpenSource code throughout the Internet.
- End of Jaiku - allows to send updates to friends.
- Removing all social features from iGoogle, for a bigger focus on Google+.
- End of the University Research Program for Google Search.