Google+
social networking site
why dead?
In October 2018, Google announced that it was shutting down Google+ for consumers, citing low user engagement and a software error.
goo.gl
URL shortening service
why dead?
The service no longer accepts new users since April 13, 2018 and will discontinue the service for existing users on March 30, 2019. After March 30, 2019, all links will continue to redirect to the intended destination.
Google Spaces
app for group discussions
why dead?
Google’s traditional Spring cleaning — and with it maybe the company is showing it can be a little more focused on its messaging strategy.
Google Talk
instant messaging service
why dead?
Google announced its decision to discontinue Google Talk. Instead, users are being advised to start using the Hangouts app.
Project Ara
modular smartphone project
why dead?
Google has “suspended” work on Project Ara. The decision is said to be part of an effort to unify Google’s hardware development under former Motorola president Rick Osterloh.
Panoramio
geo-located photo sharing
why dead?
On September 16, 2014, it was announced that Google intended to close Panoramio and migrate it to Google Maps Views.
Google Code
project hosting service
why dead?
Google Code offered a free collaborative development environment for open source projects. Projects hosted on Google Code remain available in the Google Code Archive.
Picasa
online photo-sharing tool
why dead?
Google stated that the primary reason for retiring Picasa was that it wanted to focus its efforts “entirely on a single photos service” the cross-platform, web-based Google Photos.
Google Moderator
Issue tracking system
why dead?
Google Moderator was shut down on 2015 because the usage did not match Google’s expectations. The site remained available as read-only until August 15, 2015, at which time it closed completely.
Helpouts by Google
online collaboration service
why dead?
On April 20, 2015, Google officially shut down Helpouts stating that the service hadn’t, “grown at the pace we had expected.”
Google Catalogs
shopping app for tablets
why dead?
Google catalogs officially shut down on August 4, 2015. The announcement comes a little less than two years after the mobile app was retired. No reason was given.
Orkut
social networking website
why dead?
Over the past decade, growth of Facebook, YouTube, Blogger and Google+ have outpaced Orkut’s. Google decided to bid Orkut farewell and shut it down.
Building Maker
3d buildings maker
why dead?
On 13 March 2013 Google announced that the Building Maker application would be retired on 1 June 2013; the cancellation became effective on 4 June.
Google Latitude
social location service
why dead?
It was discontinued on August 9, 2013. After the feature moved to Google+ in between, Google incorporated Latitude’s location sharing feature into Google Maps
Google Checkout
payment processing service
why dead?
It was discontinued on November 20, 2013 and the service moved to Google Wallet.
iGoogle
personalised home page
why dead?
Google announced that, it would retire iGoogle due to “the unforeseen evolution of web and mobile apps and the erosion of the need for the site.”
Google Reader
RSS/Atom feed aggregator
why dead?
Google announced they were discontinuing Google Reader, stating the product had a loyal but declining following, and they wanted to focus on fewer products.
Sparrow
email client for mac
why dead?
Google killed sparrow in favour of Google Inbox.
Code Search
code search engine
why dead?
Google announced that Code Search was to be shut down along with the Code Search API. The service remained online until March 2013,and it now returns a 404.
Urchin
web analytics program
why dead?
Urchin Software product has been completely overshadowed by its tremendously popular offspring (Google Analytics)
Google Jaiku
micro-blogging service
why dead?
Google Jaiku was shut down as the company wanted to focus on Google+ and also Jaiku didn’t manage enough traction.
Picnik
online photo editing
why dead?
It was discontinued and an app with the same tools was added to Google+. It is called as the Creative Kit.
Knol
user-written reference site
why dead?
Google phased out Knol in favour of Annotum. The project was closed on April 30, 2012, and all content was deleted by October 1, 2012.
Google Health
personal health record
why dead?
Google stated that they were discontinuing Google Health because it did not have as broad impact as had been expected.
Google Video
video hosting service
why dead?
The video hosting service was ultimately shut down on August 20, 2012 and the remaining Google Video content was automatically migrated to YouTube.
Google Wave
real-time collab app
why dead?
Google Wave was discontinued because there just weren’t enough active users. The IP was later transferred to Apache when the development was discontinued.
Google Fast Flip
online news aggregator
why dead?
Google did not specify any reason to discontinue it.
Sidewiki
web annotation tool
why dead?
In September 2011, Google announced it would discontinue a number of its products, including Google Sidewiki through their ”second spring cleanup”
Google Desktop
desktop search app
why dead?
“People now have instant access to their data, whether online or offline. As this was the goal of Google Desktop, the product will be discontinued”
Google Labs
google's playground
why dead?
In July 2011, Google announced that it was discontinuing Google Labs. Many of the experiments have been discontinued although a few have moved to the main search pages.
Google Dictionary
web-based dictionary
why dead?
Google closed down Dictionary service with a message: “Google Dictionary is no longer available. You can use Google web search to find definitions or Google Translate for your translation needs.”
Aardvark
social search service
why dead?
Another victim of Google’s ‘spring cleanup’.
Google Notebook
online note taking app
why dead?
In September 2011, Google announced it would discontinue a number of its products, including Google Notebook through their ”second spring cleanup”.
Google Buzz
Social networking service
why dead?
Google announced that it would discontinue the service and that the existing content would be available in read-only mode. Buzz was superseded by Google+
Google Gears
open source utility software
why dead?
The Gears team at Google announced that the development of Google Gears had stopped, as they are working on bringing all of the Gears capabilities into web standards.
GOOG-411
local directory assistance
why dead?
“The service has served its purpose in helping the company develop other, more sophisticated voice-powered technologies.” – Google
SearchWiki
annotate search results
why dead?
Google Stars replaced SearchWiki. Users no longer have the option to annotate or re-order search results.
Ride Finder
ride sharing service
why dead?
Way before Uber, Google Ride Finder offered a geolocated service to find a car: taxi, carpool or shuttle in 14 cities of the United States. It closed in 2009.
Audio Ads
why dead?
Launched from 2007 to 2009, Audio Ads was a radio advertising module only operated in the United States.
Web Accelerator
web page speed tool
why dead?
Google Web Accelerator is no longer available for, or supported by, Google as of January 20, 2008.
Page Creator
website creation service
why dead?
In 2008, Google announced that it would not accept new sign-ups to Page Creator, instead encouraging users to use Google Sites. The service had been shut down in 2009.
Lively
web-based virtual world
why dead?
A post on the Google Blog explains the decision: “we want to ensure that we prioritize our resources and focus more on our core search, ads and apps business.”
Dodgeball
social location service
why dead?
Dodgeball was shut down and succeeded in February 2009 by Google Latitude.
Google Answers
online knowledge market
why dead?
“Answers community’s limited size and other product considerations made it more effective for us to focus our efforts on other ways to help our users find information.”