This withdrawal from Google Podcasts, an action that Google is considering, is part of a series of announced endings that raise the questions: Where does loyalty and trust fit in Google's volatile ecosystem?
There you have it, Google Podcasts (launched in 2018) has joined the club of Google services that have walked out the door. As he pointed out Nomiramathe site “Killed by Google”which keeps a funeral log for all Google products that stopped working early, has just been expanded with this new addition.
Since April 2, 2024, this listening platform, which was part of the Android ecosystem, is no longer in service in the United States, a few months after Google announced its intention to integrate podcasts with YouTube.
Google ritual: launch, then abandon
This was expected. In 2023, Google has already indicated that it is preparing for the end of its standalone podcast service to focus on YouTube Music.
If this were an isolated case, it would have been forgivable, but this is a recurring trend at Google. The Podcasts app is just the latest victim of what we might call the “Google ritual”: Google gets turned on, then Google gets dropped.
Among those excluded from this ritual, we can mention Google Clips, Stadia, Inbox by Gmail, YouTube Gaming, Google Trips, Google Allo, Google Plus, Google Goggles, Google Talk, Chromebook Pixel, Project Ara, Picasa, MyTracks and Google. The Nexus range, Google Latitude and Nexus Q, to name a few.
Should we trust Google?
With Google Podcasts gone, users will have to turn to other specialized apps, like Spotify, Deezer, or Apple Podcasts for iPhone fans. But this raises the issue of trust in Google.
Personally, I have two apps I recommend: Pocket Casts and Podcast Addict.
As shown the edgeGoogle Graveyard can be viewed as a collection of products launched by a brand that failed and were subsequently abandoned.
But we can also see a long history of Google's inability to give clear direction for its products. Whether it's instant messaging, video games, virtual or augmented reality, or social networking, Google has often proven unable to sustain its services in the long term.
