A little bit meta here but these words are true even today : Suddenly, 20% meant half-assed. Google Labs was shut down. App Engine fees were raised. APIs that

A little bit meta here but these words are true even today : Suddenly, 20% meant half-assed. Google Labs was shut down. App Engine fees were raised. APIs that had been free for years were deprecated or provided for a fee. As the trappings of entrepreneurship were dismantled, derisive talk of the “old Google” and its feeble attempts at competing with Facebook surfaced to justify a “new Google” that promised “more wood behind fewer arrows.” …The old Google made a fortune on ads because they had good content. It was like TV used to be: make the best show and you get the most ad revenue from commercials. The new Google seems more focused on the commercials themselves. — James Whittaker, Why I left Google