[Update: goo.gl is dead] Google ‘Spring Cleaning’ kills off Inbox, Google+, more in the next few weeks

Ben Schoon | Apr 1 2019 - 6:13 am PT

Google is notorious at this point for killing off products seemingly for no reason. Sometimes it’s a shame, other times it goes nearly unnoticed. In the next few weeks, though, Google is preparing to kill off quite a few beloved products including Inbox by Gmail, Google+, Allo, and its URL shortener.

Here’s a calendar of what’s coming and what’s being killed with Google’s “Spring Cleaning.”

Google Allo – March 12th, 2019

The first casualty of Spring Cleaning 2019 is Google Allo. The company’s dozenth messaging service was hyped up by many after I/O 2016, even though it took quite a while to actually launch. After it finally arrived, though, it gained a lot of traction very quickly, but then fell on its face There were some loyal active users, but thanks to a setup that required a phone number and just a lack of users, Allo quickly started sinking.

Still, Allo did bring a lot of good. It’s messaging features were ahead of its time, and it was also the birthplace and the first place we got to try the Google Assistant. It also debuted alongside Google Duo, a video calling service which is currently thriving and arguably one of the company’s best products at the moment.

After we first reported its death, Google confirmed as much in an official announcement just a few short months ago. Allo lived and died in the time of Hangouts, and also set the foundation of Google’s new venture in RCS chat. It’ll certainly be missed when it officially shuts down on March 12th, 2019.

goo.gl URL Shortener – March 30th, 2019

Update: He’s dead Jim! – As of this past weekend, Google’s link shortener is officially dead. The service was available to users from 2009 to March 30th, 2019. As mentioned below, existing links for goo.gl will continue to work indefinitely, but new ones can’t be created.

While the other products on this list are certainly more well-known by consumers, a Google tool that’s been popular on the web is goo.gl. Google’s URL shortener has been a popular, simple bit.ly alternative for years now. On March 30th, though, it’ll be shut down.

Google kicked off the process of shutting down its URL shortener back in 2018, cutting off new users last April. On March 30th, it closes for everyone. Links that have already been created will continue to function, but statistics won’t be visible anymore and users won’t be able to create new links either. At the time of writing, you can’t even sign into goo.gl from the web.

The death of goo.gl comes as Google shifted its focus to Firebase Dynamic Links. That tool offers much more functionality, but it’ll honestly be a shame to lose the simple tool that was goo.gl.

Inbox by Gmail – April 2nd

Google hasn’t provided a specific date for when Inbox by Gmail will close, but the service’s death has plenty of users up in arms. The email client was an official way to access your Gmail address, but with a totally different take on how it would work. That included bundles which would group your emails together based on the day or their topic. Other great additions include in-line attachment previews, snoozing, better archiving tools, and reminders that appeared right along with your emails.

Understandably, people are upset about Inbox’s death. Personally, I could never get into that unique take on email, but it did create a ton of great new features.

Since its 2014 launch, Google has been bringing some of Inbox’s features to Gmail proper, and the company says that more will. We’ve already seen this to some extent, and leaked images even show off other features like bundles coming to the Gmail app on Android.

As mentioned, Google has not provided an official date of death for Inbox. For now, we only know that it’s being closed sometime in March. Stay tuned here to 9to5Google for more updates.

Google+ – April 2nd, 2019

It’s a day the media has been trying to make happen for years and years now. On April 2nd, 2019, Google+ officially dies. The social network which developed a very loyal fanbase, but failed to gain mainstream adoption.

Still, it seemed like Google wanted to keep trying with the platform, integrating it over the years into many other products including YouTube’s comments section (much to the hatred of some).

That was, until this past year when two security issues with the platform put the data of millions at risk and triggered both a shutdown and an escalation of that process. Now, we’re coming up quick on the April 2nd death date of Google+. The platform has been shuttering its APIs for the past few weeks and consumers have been notified of the platform’s death numerous times. Of course, Google+ is still on track to stick around as a business product. We’ll see how long that lasts.

If you’ve ever been an active Google+ user, don’t delay in downloading your data.