Google is a massive company competing with other massive companies like Amazon, and therefore for it to move as a business, it needs to try new things. And those new things may not always work. But the California-based company has a particularly bad rap when it comes to discontinuing products – it’s not uncommon for the plug to be suddenly pulled on a highly popular Google product, thereby inviting backlash (remember Play Music?). Now, barely four months into 2023 and Google has once again pulled a Google, shuttering six products and services already, with several more walking the plank as we speak. In this article, we take a look at these products and try to determine exactly what led to their fateful end. Google OnHub Google OnHub was a wireless router powered by Google software, managed by Google apps, and offered special features like Google Assistant. It was sold in two versions, manufactured by either Asus or TP-Link. Google's official tagline for the product was "We’re streaming and sharing in new ways our old routers were never built to handle. Meet OnHub, a router from Google that is built for all the ways you use Wi-Fi." In 2016, the company released the Google Wifi router with mesh networking and combined its functionality with the Onhub so that OnHub and Google Wifi may be used interchangeably in mesh networks. In 2021, Google announced that the OnHub routers would no longer receive any software updates. Then in January 2023, the company rendered the product almost completely useless by disabling most of its features. Google Stadia Google Stadia, the company’s cloud gaming offering that let gamers run AAA titles on cheaper hardware, including phones, laptops, and TVs, was shut down on January 18. Google refunded all Stadia hardware purchased through the Google Store along with the games and add-ons purchased from the Stadia Store. “A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia,” Stadia’s vice president Phil Harrison said in a blog post. “And while Stadia’s approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.” Rumours about Google shutting down the service were doing rounds right from the start, and when Logitech announced its new cloud gaming console in 2022 without mentioning Stadia, those speculations had grown stronger. Google Code Jam First started in 2023, Code Jam was an international programming competition hosted and administered by Google. It consisted of multiple rounds of online and onsite contests, where participants had to solve challenging problems using their preferred programming language. The top 25 finalists got to compete for the title of Code Jam Champion and a prize of 15,000 USD at the Google headquarters. Several Google Code Jam problems have sparked academic research. But on February 22, 2023, Google announced that Google Code Jam will be discontinued alongside its other programming competitions, Hash Code and Kick Start. Google Jacquard Killed last month, Jacquard was a small tag that could be embedded into clothing and then paired with a smartphone. It allowed people to perform certain customisable actions on their phones without actually touching the phone. For example, a double-tap could play/pause music, brushing the fabric could change tracks, and covering the sensor would mute/unmute notifications. Jacquard was first unveiled back in 2015 by Google ATAP, the company’s Advanced Technology and Projects group, responsible for other projects like Soli. It debuted on special jackets from Levi’s and was also included by Samsonite and YSL in its backpacks and Adidas in a smart insole for soccer players. Google Currents Google Currents, a service that provided social media features similar to Google+ for Workspace users was shuttered a couple of weeks ago. It was launched only in July 2020 as a rebrand of the now also defunct Google+ platform. People using it were pushed to Spaces, Google’s equivalent of a Slack channel. Google’s rationale behind the decision was so that users won’t have to work in a “separate, siloed destination.” They’ll instead use Chat and Spaces, which are now prominently integrated into Gmail. Google Street View app Killed less than a month ago, the Google Street View app was available on Android and iOS and enabled people to get a 360-degree view of locations around the world. It was over 12 years old. But while the app is now gone, its functionality still exists on Google Maps and Street View Studio.
