Google to Drop iGoogle in 2013

Today Google announced what they termed “spring cleaning in summer”, meaning they are getting rid of a few services.  This happens fairly often and the majority of people don’t notice, which is why the apps ended up on the chopping block to begin with.  In this case, the list is once again one of services that users will not miss – Google Mini, Google Talk Chatback, Google Video, and the Symbian Search App.  However, there was one more name on the list that was initially surprising – iGoogle, the popular home page service.

However, after giving it some thought, it made a lot more sense.  I have an iGoogle page and I can’t remember the last time I was on it.  My browser used to open to it and I would frequently hit the “Home” button to return to it in order to check Gmail or see one of the extension I had customized it with.  But, my browser now opens to all of the tabs that were open when I last used it and Chrome, my browser of choice lately, doesn’t even have a “Home” button.  Everyone may not be like that, but my guess is that many are or iGoogle wouldn’t be marked for death.

If you do still use the service then there is no need to push the panic button yet.  Google is giving you plenty of warning.  iGoogle won’t become part of internet history until November 1, 2013, so you have more than a year to ween yourself from it.  There are still a few services like iGoogle around, but they are certainly dwindling rather quickly.