Google culls unpopular services

Google has detailed the imminent demise of a number of its less-used services and initiatives, via a blog post from senior vice president Urs Hölzle.

While we've known that Google Wave has been headed for the bin for a while, its closure date has now been officially announced as 31 January 2012, when the service will become read-only for the few remaining users.

Also on the chopping block are the web application browser extension Google Gears, which will cease working on 1 December, website plugin Google Friend Connect, which will close its doors on 31 March, and article collaboration service Knol, which will close on 30 April, 2012.

It seems the problem with being the world's largest search engine and having enough cash to buy a small South American country is that not every new venture or idea works out.

However, while it's always disheartening to see services close, it's unlikely there will be too many mourners for those axed. Just so long as Google keeps working towards those awesome self-driving cars and running most of the world's web searches, it'll probably be okay.

Did you use Google Friend Connect, Gears or Wave? Do you use any of Google's other services such as G+? Let us know your thoughts in the forum.