Google closes a number of web services to focus on core
In a recent blog post, Renewing old resolutions for the new year, Google announced the closing of a number of publicly available services and tools. The search giant has been on a killing rampage with the goal of removing under-performing and peripheral businesses from it's portfolio.
Examples of the recently killed Google programs include:
- Buzz social network
- Google Labs
- Google Health
We are pretty saddened at one of the now-doomed services, Picnik, an online photo editing toolset. Picnik is possibly the best-known of the services that Google is killing. The craziest part is that Google purchased the company less than a year ago--in March 2010. Most likely, Google will be incorporating photo editing tools into it's core products, and perhaps even recycling the Picnik technology.
Other tools that will be phased out, rolled-up or merged:
- Google Message Continuity (GMC)
- Google Sky Map
- Needlebase
- Social Graph API
- Urchin: This online web analytics product became the foundation for Google Analytics
