Google pulls the plug on iGoogle
05 Nov 2013
Google has pulled the plug on its personalised homepage service iGoogle after eight years of its existence.
The search giant had announced the move well in advance, in July of last year, as the proliferation of social media had made it largely redundant.
Global enterprise search general manager Matt Eichner had pointed out in a blog post announcing its closure last year, that the service was launched in May 2005 and at the time none could fully imagine the ways that today's web and mobile apps would put personalised, real-time information at people's fingertips.
With the increasing use of apps running on platforms like Android and Chrome, Google decided to shut the service, which according to commentators was the right thing to do as iGoogle no longer really fitted into the overall Google experience given the fact it was not socially driven like other products such as Android, Google+ and YouTube, just to name a few.
Users had been given full 16 months to adjust and / or export their data if necessary, but when the curtain finally rung down on the service on 1 November, Google did not give any final warning. Those visiting the old iGoogle URL would now be redirected to the search engine's traditional landing page.
But there were hints that it would soon be the end of the road for iGoogle two years ago when Google+ was being launched.
Google announced that iGoogle would no longer support social features as the company focused on its baby social network.
Moreover, Google now also has Google Now, the voice-activated personalised digital assistant, which is full of real-time, relevant data that integrates with the Android mobile experience.
Finally, Google made its plan clear on how it really felt, saying it would shutter iGoogle this year due to ''the unforeseen evolution of web and mobile apps and the erosion of the need for the site.''
Meanwhile, Google claims its Google+ services now boasted 300 million active users, and Google Now had moved to the desktop and continued to get lovely on a regular baisis.
