Google kills products. A lot of them. If you built your strategy around any of these, you learned a hard lesson. ⚰️
The Google Graveyard
Google has killed over 250 products and services. Here are the ones that hurt the most – especially for marketers and SEOs who built strategies around them.
Google+ (2011-2019)
Google’s attempt to compete with Facebook. For years, SEOs were told Google+ signals mattered for rankings. Businesses invested heavily in building Google+ followings. “Your Google+ profile will boost your search visibility!”
Then Google quietly killed it after admitting almost nobody used it.
Google Authorship (2011-2014)
Remember when your face could appear next to your articles in search results? Google told everyone to implement rel=”author” markup. Build your personal brand! Authorship will be huge for SEO!
Three years later, gone. All that markup implementation – wasted.
Google Reader (2005-2013)
The RSS reader millions relied on. Content creators built audiences through RSS subscriptions. Then Google decided RSS wasn’t the future and pulled the plug.
The death of Google Reader arguably damaged the open web more than any single decision.
Google My Business Websites (2017-2024)
Free simple websites for local businesses through Google Business Profile. Millions of small businesses used these as their only web presence. Google encouraged this!
Then they killed it. All those sites now redirect to the business profile page – if business owners were lucky enough to set up redirects in time.
Google Podcasts (2018-2024)
Google’s podcast app. Podcasters optimized for it, built audiences on it. Six years later – dead. Migrated to YouTube Music whether you wanted that or not.
Feedburner (2007-???)
Not officially dead, but abandoned. Google bought it, let it rot, and millions of RSS feeds still technically run through it – waiting for the day Google finally pulls the plug.
The Lesson
Never build your entire strategy on a Google product.
Google will launch something, encourage adoption, watch businesses invest heavily in it – and kill it without warning when the metrics don’t justify continued development.
This applies to everything:
- Don’t rely solely on Google traffic – diversify your channels
- Don’t trust every new Google feature – wait and see if it survives
- Don’t believe everything Google says – they’ve been wrong before
- Own your audience – email lists, your own website, direct relationships
What’s Next?
Google Business Messages? Universal Analytics (already dead)? Chrome third-party cookies (constantly delayed)? AMP (quietly abandoned)?
The pattern is clear. Build on Google’s platforms, but always have a backup plan. The product you depend on today might be in the graveyard tomorrow.
This article was originally about Google+ for SEO. Google+ is dead. This is the updated version.