100 Google products that were deprecated or abandoned

Google launches several products and services every and discontinues many which don’t do well. While we are familiar with the ones that succeed, most of the failed ones are consigned to the dustbins of history. Here is a list of 100 discontinued Google products that were deprecated, closed or abandoned.

Discontinued Google Products

1. Google Answers: The site is still there but is not accepting any new questions or answers. It is now a repository where you can browse already asked questions. To look up things, you may use the search widget or you may browse using category links
2. Google Plus: Google Plus (Google+) was a networking service where people of similar minds could get together either by following each other or by joining groups created by users. Google Plus expected as much popularity as its “Asia only” Orkut commanded. It didn’t happen. Google (now Alphabet) was already mulling taking it down when a data breach happened. This gave Google, a reason to wind up Google Plus
3. Hire by Google: The three-year-old project was a good method to manage and track applicants. It was directed at small and medium businesses. This project shuts down completely in September 2020
4. Google Fabric: Set to close in March 2020. The fabric was like Platform as a Service (PaaS) for building mobile apps. It allowed the deployment of apps, test them, check out audience/users. It was a small “Fabric” for empowering app developers and teams in small and medium businesses
5. Google Allo: Lived for two years only. It was yet another chatting app from Google. It worked on Android, iOS, and had a web version too. In my opinion, Allo lost to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
6. Chromecast Audio: Before Google Home picked up, Chromecast Audio allowed users to listen to music from any device to any audio system. It was later seen as a competition to the Google Home project, and so was discontinued.
7. Google Glasses: Based on AR (Augmented Reality), Google Glass allowed the superimposition of data, on a glass that worked as a computer screen. Many opposed it saying it will invade privacy everywhere, so the product wasn’t encouraged. Very few people bought these glasses before they were discontinued in 2017.
8. Orkut: Orkut was a social networking site for the Asia-Pacific region. There were no geographical restrictions but it was popular among the South Asian countries. People could share their social updates on Orkut. More than anything, Orkut was known for its communities that were pretty active. This service was discontinued as it was losing users to Facebook.
9. Google Hangouts: Google Hangouts allowed video chatting as well as messages for people to talk to it. It is still functioning but not as a part of Google Plus – that introduced Google Hangouts. It will be fully removed by December 2020. Again, there is no specific reason given by Google other than “all good things come to an end”. The app was popular and installed on approx. 500,000 Android only phones.
10. Hangouts on Air: Set to close by end of the year 2019, Hangouts on Air was an advanced version of Google Hangouts. It allowed multiple user video-conferencing. Hangouts – both Air and Google Plus – were good services enjoyed by small businesses. There is no clear reason as to why Google is discontinuing them.
11. YouTube Editor: This was an online tool for editing videos after uploading them to YouTube. It had some good features and people were using it. Only that, YouTube wouldn’t monetize videos built using YouTube editor. Probably, that was the main reason why it failed to take off.
12. Picasa: Was discontinued in favor of Google Photos. It allowed the organization and viewing of pictures stored online.
13. Google Buzz: Buzz was a networking and messaging tool. It was discontinued eight years ago, in 2012.
14. Google Nexus: Was a line of flagship Android phones and tablets. It was discontinued in the year 2015.
15. Google Wave: Discontinued in the year 2012, Google Wave was an online collaborator tool that allowed real-time communication among users.
16. iGoogle: This product allowed to create an interactive Google search home page. There were several widgets for different things like news and weather, games, movies, and the ability to display other websites in a frame of iGoogle page. It also contained To-Do lists and calendars. It was a good project which Google killed without citing any specific reason. A look at igoogleportal.com might give you an idea as to what all was possible on the personalized search page of iGoogle.
17. Google Correlate: An eight-year-old project that allowed businesses information about the strength of keywords (or search terms); about to go away by 2019 end
18. Google Translator: Google Translator Toolkit allowed users to edit and manage translations in Google Translate.
19. Google Fusion: A web service for data management, data visualization in different formats like charts, maps, etc.
20. Google Bulletin: A news service that allowed users to add local news from their neighborhoods. Don’t confuse this with Google News service. The Bulletin was more for more local news that anyone could upload. This wasn’t successful as not all users wanted to become citizen journalists. It closed in November 2019.
21. Google Clips: An AI (Artificial Intelligence) based camera that would automatically take photos of interesting things. It was discontinued in November 2019.
22. Google Daydream: A Virtual Reality (VR) platform combined with Software as a Service (SaaS) that allowed VR imaging on Android. This Google project was discontinued in November 2019 as there were not many takers
23. YouTube Messages: Yet another from discontinued Google products, this system was used on YouTube where YouTubers can message each other: either one on one or as a group. This helped most in sharing knowledge about the streaming platform and sometimes, even help and advice on video content.
24. G Suite Training: Stopped in November 2019. G Suite was a training program for G Suite products. It was interactive and helped people new to Google Suite: A collection for programs including word processors, spreadsheets, slideshows, email management, and similar apps.
25. YouTube for Nintendo 3DS: This service was retired in October 2019. It was a method to stream videos from YouTube to the Nintendo gaming platforming. It didn’t get enough number of users (due to lack of advertising by Google).
26. Works with Nest API: Works with Nest was an API (application program interface) that allowed third-party services to access and manage Nest devices. Discontinued in 2019 fall
27. Google Trips: Much like any travel company, Google Trips offered a comparison of expenses when touring with different companies. It helped in planning tours and offered costs for different companies that provide accommodation, car rentals, and food, etc. It was just three years old. Died due to a lack of exposure.
28. Google Blog Compass: Blog compass was a tool that integrated with Blogspot (Blogger) and WordPress. The service was available only in India. It allowed markings in embedded Google maps. This service was retired in October 2019
29. Areo app: Areo was a mobile app that allowed users to fix up appointments with doctors, therapists, and was available for bigger metros only. It also had the option to contact local service professionals such as electricians, painters, cleaners, and plumbers. This was also discontinued in 2019. The reason for discontinuing the service was a lack of proper advertisement due to which people never knew such an app exists(ed).
30. YouTube Gaming: This service was a video-oriented app for live streaming and for videos. It did not pick up in four years and hence was discontinued in the fall of 2019.
31. Google Cloud Messaging: Cloud messaging allowed third-party developers to send messages to mobile phones using the servers of Google Cloud.
32. Inbox: Google had this service running for four years until it decided that Inbox is not satisfactory. The service tried to arrange email, based on their nature. Somehow, though popular, I guess many did not want to use it.
33. Google URL Shortener: This was in demand; I don’t know why it was discontinued despite people using it. As evident from the name, the service provided a shortening of long URLs.
34. Mr. Jingles: Used to provide alerts and notifications from different Google products. It was discontinued in early 2019
35. YouTube Video Annotations: Video annotations allowed users to add captions or speech bubbles to the video they uploaded. These annotations were used to promote other videos or provide any other information related to the video. They appeared as a text overlay on videos.
36. Search Appliance: It was an old application that lasted for 17 years before Google pulled the plug. It used to provide facilities for indexing. The product was discontinued in the final part of the year 2018
37. Google Nearby: Was a phone-based service that told users about nearby POIs (Points of Interest) wherever the phone went. It was not the maps. The nearby POIs were determined by the cellphone data and GPS service to identify the location of the user and used it to display other POIs near the users.
38. News and Weather app for Android and iOS: A three-year-old (as of the year 2019), the news and weather app for Android and iOS phones. Google gave it two years but it never took off.
39. Google Reply: Google Reply on Android phones helped users by suggesting auto replied to incoming messages.
40. Google Tez: An e-wallet that is now called Google Pay. Google Tez was launched soon after the demonetizing process in India. It was rebranded early in the year 2018. The app wasn’t discontinued exactly – only improved and sent back to market as Google Pay
41. Goggles: Allowed searching online based on the input of images from a handheld device; discontinued in early 2018
42. Encrypted search: After eight years of providing users with encrypted search, Google took it off the market around the fall of 2018.
43. Google Site Search: Was a custom search option for searching things on a website; discontinued in 2018
44. reCaptcha Mailhide: Allowed users to hide their email ID behind a captcha so that robots and HTML crawlers could not pick them up for sending spam and junk
45. Trendalyzer: Among discontinued google products – released in 2010 and stopped in 2017 – the app allowed people to check out data trends.
46. Google Portfolios: Used to help in arranging stock portfolios to traders. Was available through Google Finance. Discontinued in 2017
47. Google Map Maker: Was a useful utility that allowed users to customize the Google Maps in their own way by scribbling and marking the routes directly on the maps
48. Google Spaces: A place for Group Discussions using messaging service. It was alive only for 9 months and was discontinued in 2017
49. Google Hands-Free: This was a mobile payment system that allowed transactions using Bluetooth. It was stopped in 2017. It had a very short life: 11 months
50. Panoramio: After being in existence for 11 years, the discontinued Google product, Panoramio was actually a geotagging service.
51. Google Showtime: A search engine that allowed users to search for movies only. The project was discontinued in 2016 by Google
52. Pixate: The four-year-old Pixate was a service that helped people create animations. It was discontinued in 2016
53. Project Ara: Was discontinued by Google in 2016; It was supposed to be a smartphone project
54. Google Swiffy: A web-based tool to convert SWF files to HTML. It lived for five years and was abandoned in 2016
55. Revolv: Discontinued in 2016, Revolv allowed users to monitor and control their connected devices from a single point.
56. Google Now: Was a feature of Google Search that allowed information cards that it thought will help users. It was deprecated in the year 2016. The feature is still there on Android phones but is no longer called “Google Now”.
57. Google MyTracks: Was an app for Android which used GPS to track and monitor the users’ speed, path, distance, and elevation. Was discontinued in 2016
58. Google Compare: The app used to provide a comparison of products (financial, like Credit Cards, Mortgages, and insurances) across sellers. It lived for seven years and was discontinued in 2016
59. Pie: An app that provided a group-centric chat. This was deprecated in 2016
60. Songza: The service used to show music playlists and recommendations based on the time of day, mood, and activity. It wasn’t killed exactly. The features of Songza are now part of Google Play Music.
61. Code: A service that provided revision control and an issue tracker for coders; the service was 11 years old when Google discontinued it in 2016.
62. Google Catalogs: Was a service that provided retailers’ product catalogs to people interested in shopping. It was discontinued in 2015 after testing it for 4 years.
63. Moderator: Was an issue tracking system. Users asked questions related to the issues they were facing. The questions that got higher rankings (top-rated questions) appeared on the main page so that people could answer them. The service was stopped in early 2015.
64. Android at Home: Discontinued in 2015, Android at Home was something like a personal Internet of Things (IoT). It allowed users to discover devices on their network, connect to those devices, and communicate with them
65. Google Checkout: Tried to ease the process of completing an online transaction. The online payment system was discontinued in 2013
66. Google TV: The project was an attempt to build a smart TV platform that could integrate Android and Chrome to create an interactive television. It was dropped in 2014.
67. Google Currents: was a social magazine app. The brand name was dropped and the project was merged with Google Newsstand in 2013.
68. Wildfire Interactive: Wildfire Interactive was yet another among discontinued Google products. The service allowed businesses to create, optimize, and measure their presence on social media sites. The product was discontinued in 2014 because it didn’t get many takers
69. Google Schemer: Allowed creation of TO DO Tasks and sharing them with others. Then the users who completed any part of the To-Do list would strike that part off the list
70. Google Notifier: Allowed notification about new emails in Gmail to users; lived for nine years before Google pulled the plug, in 2014
71. Bump! was a mobile app for both Android and iOS that allowed phone users to transfer contact cards, photos, and documents among other file types
72. Google Trader: Discontinued in the year 2013, Google Trader focussed on African countries. Users used to upload their classifieds listings (buy/sell) and browse through them to buy/sell them locally
73. Google Latitude: The project was already a replacement for Google’s SMS based Dodgeball. The Latitude was supposed to be a better version of Dodgeball. The service allowed people to view their location on a phone; users could also mark themselves on the maps so that other users know about the whereabouts of their friends, relatives, and teams. It was discontinued in 2013, somewhere in August.
74. Google Reader: The seven-year-old app provided for reading RSS and Atom feeds. It was discontinued in 2013 after Atom feeds lost popularity. These days people use integrated software that can read both their emails and RSS feeds
75. Nexus Q: This too was discontinued in 2013. Nexus Q was a multimedia player that allowed content streaming from supported platforms like YouTube, Google Play Music, etc. Some of its features were transferred to Chromecast quietly
76. Google Building Maker: This was a feature released for Google Maps. It allowed people to build 3D models on their Google Maps or on Google Earth. This was also discontinued in 2013 as people shew more interest in the Google Maps app.
77. Google Chat (GChat): This was a popular chatting application from Google. People could chat one on one or use group chats. There isn’t any apparent reason as to why Google discontinued it. Probably, GChat lost its users to Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger. Ideally, Google should have first migrated all its users to Google Hangouts and then should’ve continued with closing down GChat. It didn’t happen so later, Hangouts too was closed down as mentioned above in the list. Discontinued in 2013 after seven years of services.
78. SMS Services: Google tried to provide essential information by way of Short Message Services (SMS). It had a phone number and when users would send predefined keywords to that phone number, it would reply accordingly. For example, weather, sports, and news
79. Picnik: As the name suggests, Picnik was an app to modify, edit, arrange, and store pictures. It was six years old when Google axed it in 2013.
80. Cloud Connect: This was a plug-in service from Google that allowed documents and spreadsheets in Microsoft Office could easily be uploaded and synced with files in Google Docs. This too was discontinued in 2013.
81. Google Listen: An Android app that allowed searching, subscribing and downloading web audio or podcasts
82. Google Refine: A desktop application for cleaning up data and to transform files to other formats. It was two years old when discontinued in late 2012.
83. Google Postini: Was a service that checked everything from spam emails to malware. It also allowed archiving of past emails. This was brought down in 2012.
84. Google Videos: Was a service similar to YouTube. People could upload and share videos among themselves. It was discontinued to promote YouTube
85. Needlebase: A kind of web scouring program that allowed users to extract, sort, and visualize data from different types of websites.
86. Meebo: Was a browser-based service that supported many chat platforms and Instant Messaging services. The service was stopped in 2012.
87. Google Knol: Was a service where people could add any type of information just like Wikipedia does. It had a number of topics. Users could add or edit these topics or add new topics. I personally feel Google Knol was underplayed by Google not providing enough advertisement to the service.
88. Google Wave: A real-time editor tool that helped in communication and collaborations; discontinued in 2012
89. Google One Pass: Was an online content store (books, magazines, and other forms of online content). It did not take off well as people did not participate much in the program. It was discontinued in 2012 and some of its features are still used in Google Play Books
90. Google Friend Connect: was an online social networking site. It was started in 2008 and discontinued in 2012. The platform couldn’t really take off as people moved to Facebook.
91. Jaiku: A social networking site similar to Twitter; Google failed to promote it and then discontinued it in 2012.
92. Google Health: Discontinued in 2012, Google Health was a platform that allowed from the centralization of users’ health records so that all information could be accessed without having to go through distributed and unlinked health reports
93. Google Gears: Google Gears allowed users to create web apps that could be empowered by adding offline storage and similar things to web browsers.
94. Google Notebook: Though it sounds like Microsoft OneNote, the Notebook allowed the organization of information clips collected from the Internet. It was discontinued in 2011.
95. PowerMeter: Helped users in tracking their home electricity usage. It was discontinued in 2011
96. Aardvark: Another social search service that allowed users to connect with friends who answered their questions. Discontinued in 2011.
97. Google Dictionary: Worked only for a year and helped users in looking up meanings and synonyms of difficult words. It was discontinued in 2011
98. Google Labs: It allowed developers to create several standalone apps and add-ins for existing Google products. People could try them out by adding them to their Gmail accounts. It was just experimental but helped developers. Discontinued in 2002.
99. YouTube Leanback: Was a browser optimized version of YouTube for TV-based apps. It was shut down in the fall of the year 2019
100. Google Real-Time Search: The service provided real-time search results for any keyword(s). It picked up content from Twitter and Facebook too. This was discontinued in 2011.

The above list is not comprehensive. I would call it “almost comprehensive” because it doesn’t include startups that were bought by Google, only to be closed. The above list doesn’t include any browser extensions too. I will post about them in some other article. This post on discontinued Google products became too long.

If you would like to add a few more discontinued Google products, just drop a comment. Tell us if you miss any of the listed products here.

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