Google Closing Buzz, Jaiku, Labs, Other Websites

Google is beginning to crack down on whimsy.

Historically, Google’s massive revenues fromadvertising products like AdSense have allowed it to finance a slew of Internet products and Web apps, few (if any) of which make the company any money. This “shotgun approach,” plus a handful of startups it bought out, made the company’s portfolio of online services extremely diverse.

Google is raking in record-setting profits, beating Wall Street expectations and bringing the company’s stock up to nearly $600 a share. Despite this, it’s decided to close the doors on a number of its services, including last year’s precursor to Google+: Google Buzz.

Google Buzz

“Start conversations about the things you find interesting.” That’s the tagline for Google’s soon-to-be-shut-down social networking service, but not an explanation for why anyone would use it over Twitter and Facebook. And while it’s built in to Google’s popular webmail service, Gmail, it also caused a “privacy nightmare,” according to Molly Wood of CNet. Buzz users found themselves sharing their photos, locations, and contact lists with everyone they knew — even stalkers — without realizing it, leading to a class action lawsuit Google finally settled for $8.5 million.

Google says it will close Google Buzz “in a few weeks,” and that users will be able to download their personal data from it using Google Takeout.

Jaiku

Jaiku promises to let you “Create your own microblog and connect with your friends.” It succeeded at the first part, but was rapidly eclipsed by Twitter, so chances are you can’t really connect with your friends there. Its blog hasn’t even been updated since 2009, making Jaiku’s Jan. 15 shutdown a mercy kill.

Google Labs

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Google Labs was Google’s catch-all site for experiments, including the Google Body anatomy app and an interactive story creator called Breadcrumb. Labs featured Google’s most whimsical products, few of which caught on but many of which interested their users. Google Labs products that turned into Android apps will stay on the Android Market, but Labs itself has already been shut down. (“Labs” sections on apps such as Gmail are separate, and are not being taken down.)

Code Search

Google’s Code Search lets programmers search for open-source code across the web, using a complex interface. It’s being pulled down along with Jaiku on Jan. 15.

IGoogle’s social features

IGoogle is Google’s “home page” offering. With the rise of Google+, it will no longer have its own dedicated social networking features starting on Jan. 15.

Google Search University Research Program

This program “provides API access to (Google) search results for a small number of approved academic researchers.” Unlike App Inventor, another Google product used in education (and being closed down), Google will apparently not be working with any educators to keep it alive in open-source form.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.