Google has once again retired a number of failed products this year and if you’re curious about which projects and apps have been discontinued this year, you can easily find a list of them below.
Below are the list of what Google services or products have failed to enter in the year 2023:
G Suite Legacy Free Edition (Life: 2006 – 2022): Remember when you used to be able to get a free version of G Suite packed with business features? Those were the days! Sadly, that’s no longer an option. Read more here.
Google Chrome Apps (Life: 2010 – 2022): Ah, the good old days of web apps specifically made to run on Chrome. Was it really good? They were available on the Chrome web store along with themes and extensions. Did you ever build or use any of them?
Google Surveys (Life: 2012 – 2022): Looking for a market research platform to help predict trends and behaviors? Hope you’re not searching Google surveys, because Google shut down their product called “Surveys and Surveys 360” in November 2022. Too bad!
Google Hangouts (Life: 2013 – 2022): Another cross-platform messaging app that didn’t quite make it. At least it got integrated with Google Chat before it went away.
Android Things (Life: 2015 – 2022): An Android-based embedded OS for low-memory Internet of Things devices? Sounds interesting, but unfortunately it’s no longer available.
Google Duo (Life: 2016 – 2022): A video and audio calling app for Android, iOS, and web browsers that’s no longer around. Its features have been moved to Google Meet though, so that’s something.
YouTube Go (Life: 2017 – 2022): An official YouTube app that let you download videos right onto your phone. It survived a 5 years before it was retired.
Google My Business (app) (Life: 2018 – 2022): Businesses used to be able to manage their Google Map business profiles with this app, but now it’s been moved to the Google Business Profile.
Google Assistant Snapshot (Life: 2018 – 2022): Snapshot was a card-based recommendation of upcoming tasks and activities, showing you a summary of your daily important tasks in one place.
Cameos on Google (Life: 2018 – 2022): A feature for public figures to answer simple questions from their fans with video recordings. Unfortunately, it seems not many people cared about it, because it’s no longer available.
Duplex on the Web (Life: 2019 – 2022): A technology that allowed Google Assistant to automate certain tasks on websites for visitors.
Kormo Jobs (Life: 2019 – 2022): A job finding app based on skills, was available in India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Despite over 10 million downloads, it didn’t make it to 2023.
Android Auto for phone screens (Life: 2019 – 2022): A handy feature for people with cars without displays, allowing them to use their smartphone as an alternative with Android Auto for phone screens. Now they’ll have to rely on Assistant driving mode, which isn’t available everywhere and doesn’t have all the same features.
YouTube Originals (last seen – December 2022): Did you know there used to be YouTube Originals? They were part of the YouTube premium package, but the program has been shut down.
Threadit (Life: 2021 to 2022): A short video recording app that apparently existed, but not many people knew about it. It’s now gone for good.
Why does Google keep shutting down products?
Google love to do it. No, not killing their products, apps or services but research and innovations. Google take high risk and willing more than any other companies to test a new products for different markets.
Despite shutting down a number of failed products this year, Google continues to invest heavily in research and development in a variety of fields. While not all projects are successful, the company values the opportunity to try new ideas and push the boundaries of what is possible. Even when a project doesn’t pan out, the knowledge and experience gained from the effort can lead to future breakthroughs and innovations.
You can also find the the list of total products Google discontinued till the date here.
