Just as Google creates a new service, it seems to trim away a couple they no longer want. The reported success of Google+ is no different. They have announced a new list of services they plan to eliminate in the coming months.
Google acquired Seattle-based Picnik in 2010, saying it would integrate the photo editing service with its own Picasa. “We’re retiring the service on April 19, 2012, so the Picnik team can continue creating photo-editing magic across Google products,” Dave Girouard, vice president of product management for Google, wrote in a blog post Friday.
The company is also discontinuing Google Message Continuity, its service for backing up Microsoft Exchange emails. Since launch, “hundreds” of businesses have signed up for the service, but it’s clear many more are interested in Google Apps, Girouard wrote. “Going forward, we’ve decided to focus our efforts on Google Apps and end support for GMC,” he wrote.
Google will shut down Needlebase, a data management platform, on June 1, and the Social Graph API, which isn’t being widely used, on April 20.
Will the loss of these services have any effect on your business?
Photo by Robert Scoble