As it lays off 100 recruiters and fires 70 engineers (which it plans to replace) Google also said it plans to kill or hobble Google Catalog Search, bookmarking service Google Notebook, mobile social network Dodgeball, microblogging service Jaiku and Google Mashup Editor. Google Video will no longer accept uploads.
None of these products made any money for Google and we're sure all their closures have something new Google CFO Patrick Pichette's stated plan to "feed the winners," and "starve the losers."
Google reportedly spent $12 million acquiring Jaiku. Google bought Dodgeball for an undisclosed amount. When that company's founders quit Google in 2007, they complained that Google had let Dodgeball rot.
For me, it's particularly sad to see Google Notebook go. I've relied on it for almost three years now.
Lots of New York tech scene people will be sad to see Dodgeball die.
CNET's Caroline McCarthy's reaction to the news was typical of that set: "A bunch of us were out last night when we saw the reports and we almost started to cry."
Says The Business Sheet's Caroline Waxler, "No!!!"
A related article: The Consequences Of Current Economy Dynamics: Google Closes Several Projects