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Thursday, July 12, 2012

iGoogle Disappears November 1, 2013

On June 8, Google announced that it would discontinue iGoogle on November 1, 2013.

The official explanation for this change in marketing strategy is "with modern apps that run on platforms like Chrome and Android, the need for iGoogle has eroded over time."

What this really means is that Google has decided that they cannot successfully market ads to a personalized environment like iGoogle.

What will be in its place? Google probably envisions Google+ working as a handy substitute. It doesn't have the features of iGoogle, but this means that Google will be updating Google+ to try to accommodate the present needs for an RSS resource center.

Many users who use iGoogle as their start page, may replace their control dashboard with NetVibes or ProtoPage or My Yahoo. Lifehacker provides a good comparison of NetVibes and ProtoPage in a recent posting. They are both great alternatives for iGoogle.

If you are interested in making Google+ your homepage, I believe this would be in the form of a Business Page.  There are already tutorials about making Google+ Business Pages like this one from Social Media Examiner. It could be pretty cool to have your Google Hangout on your opening page. You could talk with your friends at the beginning of your day and never get any work done.  =-)

NOTE: Discontinuing iGoogle is part of a "spring cleaning" that Google appears to be doing to streamline their offerings.
  • Google Video stopped accepting submissions in 2009 and will be moving its content to YouTube soon. if you have videos on Google Video you have until August 20 to migrate, delete or download your content.
  • Google Mini, a customizable search engine, will discontinue at the end of July.
  • Google Talk Chatback has been discontinued. 

What will you do? Do you use iGoogle to organize your PLN or with your students' PLNs? How will this affect how you organize your life?

Z

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6 comments:

  1. Not sure if you keep up with your former students' blogs, but you can add Google SketchUp to the list of spring cleaning. Trimble now has its custody.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Will blogger be discontinued?

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