Google scraps 10 services to focus on core areas

Google is to close a number of side projects, sites and tools that have become unnecessary after advances in wider technology trends, and will focus resources on the most important offerings.

Products to be discontinued include Google Desktop, which the company said is now irrelevant owing to the growth in cloud computing, and Google Pack, a download site for online tools which has been usurped by the growth in applications run online.

Other closues include Aardvark, Fast Flip, Google Maps API for Flash, Google Web Security, Image Labeler, Notebook, SideWiki and Subscribed Links.

Google senior vice president Alan Eustace said in a blog post that the closures will have benefits for customers, and that there will be clear warnings when tools are about to be shut down.

"[The closures] will mean we can devote more resources to high impact products - the ones that improve the lives of billions of people. All the Googlers working on these projects will be moved over to higher-impact products," he said.

"As for our users, we'll communicate directly with them as we make these changes, giving sufficient time to make the transition and enabling them to take their data with them."

Despite closing so many projects, Eustace said that Google will carry on innovating and purchasing small startups.

"We'll continue to take risks on interesting new technologies with a lot of potential. But by targeting our resources more effectively, we can focus on building world-changing products," he said.

Google recently updated a number of its products, including an overhaul of Blogger, and the introduction of offline capabilities for Gmail, Docs and Calendar.