Google Cutting More than Jobs–Shuttering Five Products

Friday, January 16th, 2009 by Jordan McCollum

Google Cutting More than Jobs–Shuttering Five Products

Those 100 recruiters aren’t the only ones getting the axe at Google. Just two months after killing off Lively, the search giant is shuttering or abandoning several more peripheral projects.

The Google Code Blog reports on the products that are shutting down:

Mobile social network Dodgeball.com, designed to let users share their locations via text message, will be discontinued “in the next couple months.” Google Blogoscoped notes that “The original founders of this Google-acquired company already left a while ago in frustration due to Google allegedly not evolving their product.”
The Mashup Editor won’t ever leave its limited private beta. It’s being shuttered in favor the App Engine, with the final transition in six months

Google Video’s uploading is also being discontinued in favor of YouTube and converting Google Video in a meta search engine for video. Google Catalog, a collection of scanned catalogs, most likely in favor of Google Book Search and their magazines.

Also, Google is stopping “active development” on Google Notebook, so no more new features or new users on that service, though existing users are welcome to continue using it. Again, other Google products (Google Docs and SearchWiki) can replace a lot of the product’s uses.

CNET notes these changes, taken with the recruiter layoffs, contractor “layoffs,” and data center rollbacks, are a sign that Google is “growing up” and preparing for the economic situation.

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14 comments on “Google Cutting More than Jobs–Shuttering Five Products”

Shirley Says:

January 16th, 2009 at 12:23 am

Well, this makes sense. They should focus their efforts on their most popular/useful products. Everyone needs to trim the fat, and they have a lot of it.

Shirley’s last blog post..Why Are Bloggers Writing Shorter And Shorter Posts?
Goran Web Design Says:

January 16th, 2009 at 1:35 am

it’s kinda sad though, part of Google’s charm is that they just do everything, seemingly at random (though we all know nothing they do is at random) they stick their fingers in every pie and their employees have this freedom to enjoy themselves and are given freedom to be completely creative..
PS3 Says:

January 16th, 2009 at 3:07 am

I think that fact that they have got where they are is anything but random. We may not always like what they do but the business model is working for Google.
Quilmes Verano Says:

January 16th, 2009 at 6:55 am

Let’s hope this doesn’t last for very long…
Web Site Promotions Says:

January 16th, 2009 at 8:02 am

This really highlights how bad the economy is. If Google is cutting back… Things are very bad.
R&B Love Songs Says:

January 16th, 2009 at 8:43 am

Hah, it’s about time they’re changing Google Video. You don’t buy YouTube to continue having these two different looking pages. I like their direction moving it more towards video search and making youtube the video display site.
Nick Stamoulis Says:

January 16th, 2009 at 8:58 am

This just goes to show you that nobody is safe from the economic downturn.
Jaan Kanellis Says:

January 16th, 2009 at 10:17 am

This is what happens when you start projects and dont commit resources to finish them.

Jaan Kanellis’s last blog post..Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions Book
Jayson Says:

January 17th, 2009 at 2:21 am

I like the decisions – agree with R&B Love songs, it’s high time that use google video for video search and GoogleTube, err, YouTube for what it was purchased to do.
Jacques Seoman Says:

January 17th, 2009 at 7:43 am

Yup, they sure are battening down the hatches big time. Shedding dead weight before the economic crunch bites too hard does make sense. Sad though, because there goes loads of opportunities for many people.
Jason Kuiper Says:

January 17th, 2009 at 12:51 pm

It is unfortunate that everything is getting sucked back so close to the vest. Hopefully, this market will turn around soon!
» Yahoo gets a new boss and more of this week’s search engine news (Jan 18) Says:

January 18th, 2009 at 8:50 am

[...] Google Cutting More than Jobs–Shuttering Five Products [...]
Xbox 360 Says:

January 18th, 2009 at 9:44 am

I originally thought this post was going to be about Google Firing Steve Jobs…. don’t ask why?!
Pinny Cohen Says:

January 19th, 2009 at 10:21 am

Looks like even the smartest people on earth aren’t immune to the economy :p

Pinny Cohen’s last blog post..Recession-Proof Your Lifestyle

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