Google 'spring cleaning' closes publisher payment platform

BlackBerry users suffered another small indignity today, when Google disclosed that they’ll no longer get support for Google Synch. It’s one of the “spring cleaning” steps Google announced today, following chief executive Larry Page’s guidance to pare down the company’s less popular products.

Google’s One Pass payment platform for online news publishers has been shut down too, with the suggestion that Google Consumer Surveys and other platforms would work as an alternative.

Also deemed unnecessary the mobile app for Google Talk, which has been supplanted by platform-specific apps, the dedicated Google Patent Search, and the Google Flu Vaccine Finder (which now offers visitors the HealthMap Flu Vaccine Finder instead). The photo service Picasa is also being cut back, ceasing to offer the uploader for Mac, the plug-in for iPhoto, and updates for Linux.

Among the less well-known services, Google is killing off its Google Related toolbar, which suggested information that might be relevant to a person’s search, like an address or map. That one only lasted for eight months. “The product isn’t experiencing the kind of adoption we’d like, and while we still believe in the value provided to our users, we’ll be retiring the existing product over the next few weeks, so the Related team can focus on creating more magic moments across other Google products,” Matthias Schwab, Google’s director, Cloud Services wrote on the Google Blog.

Developers wanting more nuts-and-bolts information can learn about a number of API changes as well, which are detailed in a Developers Blog post written by Adam Feldman, Google’s APIs Product Manager.

Related links:

Google Official Blog – Spring-cleaning … in spring!

Google Developer Blog – Changes to deprecation policies and API spring cleaning

SearchEngineLand – Google Shuts Down Patent Search, Google Related Toolbar, One Pass & Vaccine Finder

Photo by Flickr user henofthewood, used under Creative Commons license