"Last fall we started a spring clean, and since then we've closed or
combined more than 30 products. Today we're announcing a few more
closures" This is what Google global search GM Matt Eichner had to say on company' official blog. So its basically more than iGoogle has is seeing the end of the tunnel.
Search giant has announced they will be closing out a few of its products that include iGoogle, Google mini, Google Video and Chatback and possibly the Symbian search app. If you love any of these products, you will have time till end of 2013 to gather yourself and find whatever alternatives you may settle on as a replacement. These services, Google said, will be closed in a phased manner. However the mobile version of iGoogle will be closed out at the end of this month.
This is part of the housecleaning that we are now used to see the search giant indulge in, especially after the introduction of Larry Page as the CEO of the company. Since his introduction some 15 months back, the company citing periodic housecleaning work has closed out nearly 30 products.
iGoogle was introduced some 8yrs before as a personalization service from Google. The service allowed users to personalize their home page with themes available in the tool and to have applications like weather update and stock news based on their usability. Google gave a way for its users to return back and to use the information they cared about and more importantly with ease! And since it was only available to the logged in users, Google gained some user count from there as well. But as time has changed and other services are available "The need for iGoogle has eroded over time" said Matt. Which we agree is true. With the advent of smartphones and number of apps available a user would normally refer t his smartphone home screen for weather and stock updates rather than go to iGoogle. iGoogle with its unique features, when started, became one of Google' fastest growing service around 2007, nearly 2yrs after it was initially started.
Will you be missing the personalized home page? Feeling sad or you think it makes no sense to keep the service, let us know!
Sad demise of iGoogle , the one i personally loved and using for long time now :-(.
ReplyDeleteIt was a hit for sure and loved by millions across the web. We suggest you move out stuff if any from the service, Google did well to announce the close out of service in advance.
ReplyDeleteWell, a replacement would be nice indeed, but it can’t really match the original iGoogle and doesn’t really add value to your startpage... I feel it’s somehow a downgrade from the original iGoogle.
ReplyDeleteYou you will enjoy the change, I felt a real Upgrade after I start using http://startific.com
It has a beautiful interface, you will love it!