Does no one at Google HQ ever have the guts to raise their hand and bring this up? It's a meme by now.
Raises hand.
"Hey, I think we shouldn't cancel this project."
"Not your decision."
End scene.
Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them
11–20 of 105 posts
Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them
#12Not a Google fanboy by any means, but couldn't this be read with the opposite conclusion as well - that the average time that Google keeps marginal products alive is 4 years?
Of course it's possible that everyone has some personal favourites amongst those 164, but if an idea really has legs what's to stop people from exhuming it from the Google graveyard?
Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them
#13I imagine Google views this as a positive thing, trying a million ideas, so that hopefully it increases the chances of having at least one good and popular idea. The downside is, a lot of products they killed were good ideas, but its sink or swim and they don't get the products the needed love and attention so they don't take off and thus they kill them. And now even when releasing a good idea or good piece of hardwa…
Maybe, but some are exceptionally bad. Why did Allo exist at all for example? And the merging, demerging involved with Messages, Hangouts, and Voice have been a complete mess. There's more there than just trying some ideas, as some of the ideas actively damaged older ideas.
Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them
#14Not a Google fanboy by any means, but couldn't this be read with the opposite conclusion as well - that the average time that Google keeps marginal products alive is 4 years? Of course it's possible that everyone has some personal favourites amongst those 164, but if an idea really has legs what's to stop people from exhuming it from the Google graveyard?
4 years for a product is abysmal from one of the richest companies in the world. This is Google not some garage shop with 2 employees.
Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them
#15I noticed in the "recent deaths" section, YouTube for 3DS. This made me laugh, because at Netflix, supporting the 3DS was always a big pain. Regardless, Netflix still supports it to this day.
In fact, as far as I know, Netflix has only ever killed support for one platform -- The PS2. And that was only because there were only about 10 people left using it.
So we sent them all Rokus and told them we're discontinuing PS2 support.
Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them
#16I imagine Google views this as a positive thing, trying a million ideas, so that hopefully it increases the chances of having at least one good and popular idea. The downside is, a lot of products they killed were good ideas, but its sink or swim and they don't get the products the needed love and attention so they don't take off and thus they kill them. And now even when releasing a good idea or good piece of hardwa…
Maybe, but some are exceptionally bad. Why did Allo exist at all for example? And the merging, demerging involved with Messages, Hangouts, and Voice have been a complete mess. There's more there than just trying some ideas, as some of the ideas actively damaged older ideas.
Yeah. The Gchat/Hangouts mess was what caused me to permanently move off all Google-based IM-platforms.
You better believe I’m not coming back.
Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them
#17I noticed in the "recent deaths" section, YouTube for 3DS. This made me laugh, because at Netflix, supporting the 3DS was always a big pain. Regardless, Netflix still supports it to this day. In fact, as far as I know, Netflix has only ever killed support for one platform -- The PS2. And that was only because there were only about 10 people left using it. So we sent them all Rokus and told them we're discontinuing PS…
I love that you sent them Rokus. Most companies would just tell them they are out of luck and to go buy something.
My old Panasonic TV has a handful of apps left (it's got like three home screens for apps, and like four still even exist). Thankfully Vudu, my app of choice, still works. As does Netflix and I believe Amazon Prime.
Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them
#18my theory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H62sHBHq3pc
Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them
#19Most of these could have been a success but google has no idea how to connect with customers. An idea and a product is what we have. If customers accidently start using the product and it becomes a success it stays but if it doesn't meet some corporate goal it gets killed see g+(first they pushed it everywhere making everyone hate it, the moment groups of people started using it google saw it would never reach facebook and killed it. If they would have left it could have pivoted).
I don't know what many of these products are either. Cloud VR cloud, but it doesn't sound like something I would shutdown maybe sell.. maybe rethink.
Re: Average product lifespan of Google products before it kills them
#20Not a Google fanboy by any means, but couldn't this be read with the opposite conclusion as well - that the average time that Google keeps marginal products alive is 4 years? Of course it's possible that everyone has some personal favourites amongst those 164, but if an idea really has legs what's to stop people from exhuming it from the Google graveyard?
It's probably more like a year with actual support and updates, two years where it's left to whither and slowly die, and then a year of notice before sunsetting it.