4 ms·
Is Google actually more likely to shut down a given service than any other company?
by s17n 9y ago
Is Google actually more likely to shut down a given service than any other company?
- pishpash 9y agoYes. Google's model is "user has zero say." On the one side of it is forced auto-update, and on the other side is forced deprecation.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoSeems so, especially that most of the time we're talking about companies for which a given service is their only product. Personally, I've learned to treat SaaS products as throwaway by default. That is, if I can benefit from it short-term, like in 3 to 6 weeks, I may sign up. But I don't expect it to exist in 3 to 6 years, so I'm not going to invest much into using it.
- TAForObvReasons 9y agoI don't specifically blame Google when they acquire a startup and shut down the service. We don't know the financial condition of the company before the acquisition. Would you rather Google wait for the startup to officially fold and then scoop up the assets in bankruptcy? Their numbers definitely are adversely affected by these "acquisitions"
- s17n 9y agoCompanies with only one product are very likely to shut that product down when they go out of business or are acquired.
- megous 9y agoPerhaps yes, because almost none are core businesses of Google.
- ReverseCold 9y agoThis one looks like core business (analytics/data collection).
- s17n 9y agoAny new product is either: - A startup, which will likely fail - Not the core business of the company which created it
- megous 9y agoBut it's much easier to drop without endangering the company. And the question is specifically about Google.
- stevenjohns 9y agoEstablished services... maybe? Although the list on Wikipedia[0] doesn't make it seem as dramatic. I know of at least one website[1] dedicated to track whether or not Google had shut down products yet. I think the thing that started this meme was when Google shut down Reader[2]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Google_services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Discontinued_Google_s... [1] https://didgoogleshutdown.com/ https://didgoogleshutdown.com/ [2] https://www.google.com/reader/about/ https://www.google.com/reader/about/