For 28 years, Google has been one of the biggest forces shaping the internet. From transforming how people search for information to building Android, Chrome, Maps, YouTube and a massive cloud ecosystem, the company has repeatedly turned ambitious technology ideas into products used by billions.
But Google's history also has another side — products that arrived with big ambitions, generated enormous attention and eventually disappeared.
Some failed to attract enough users. Some entered markets where competition was already intense. Others were ahead of their time, while several were simply replaced by a different Google strategy.
As Google celebrates its 28th birthday on September 27, 2026, here are 20 of the company's most famous discontinued products and projects, each representing a different experiment in Google's evolution.
1. Google Glass: When Google Put the Internet on Your Face
Few Google experiments created as much excitement as Google Glass. The wearable computer placed a small display in front of the user's eye and introduced the idea that smartphones might eventually disappear from the centre of our digital lives.
Glass became a global technology phenomenon even before reaching mainstream consumers. Privacy concerns, pricing and questions about everyday usefulness, however, limited its consumer potential. Google later shifted Glass toward enterprise applications before eventually ending the Enterprise Edition.
What remained: The broader concept of wearable computing continued to influence the technology industry.
2. Orkut: Google's Forgotten Social Media Giant
Today, social media is dominated by a handful of massive platforms. But during the early social-networking era, Google had its own major player. Orkut, launched in 2004, became particularly popular in Brazil and India. Users built communities, exchanged testimonials and maintained profiles during a very different phase of the internet.
After more than a decade, Google shut Orkut down in 2014. For many early internet users, Orkut remains less a discontinued product and more a piece of digital nostalgia.
3. Stadia: Google Wanted the Console to Disappear
Google entered gaming with a radically different proposition. Stadia attempted to move high-end gaming from local hardware to Google's cloud infrastructure. The promise was compelling: users could stream games rather than depend on expensive consoles or gaming PCs.
The service launched in 2019 but was shut down in 2023. Stadia's short life nevertheless demonstrated how Google was willing to challenge the traditional economics of gaming.
4. Project Ara: The Smartphone That Could Be Rebuilt
What if upgrading a smartphone didn't require buying a new smartphone? That was the thinking behind Project Ara. Google explored a modular handset where components such as cameras, batteries and other hardware could potentially be replaced or upgraded individually.
The concept attracted enormous attention among technology enthusiasts but never became a commercial smartphone. Project Ara remains one of Google's most memorable hardware experiments because it attempted to change the basic relationship between consumers and their devices.
5. Google Reader: The Internet Before Algorithms Took Over
For today's users, following websites usually means social feeds, recommendations and notifications.
Google Reader belonged to an earlier internet built around RSS feeds. The service allowed users to subscribe directly to websites and monitor new stories from one central dashboard. It developed an extremely loyal user base before Google discontinued it in 2013.
Its shutdown remains one of the company's most debated product decisions among longtime internet users.
6. Nexus: The Android Era Before Pixel
Google did not start building its own smartphone identity with Pixel. That story began with Nexus. Google partnered with companies including HTC, Samsung, LG, Huawei and Motorola to create Nexus devices designed to showcase Android.
Nexus eventually disappeared in 2016, but it helped establish Google's ambitions in smartphone hardware. The next chapter was Pixel — a more direct Google hardware strategy.
7. Google+ — The Social Network Google Couldn't Sustain
Google had another major social-media ambition after Orkut. Google+, launched in 2011, attempted to bring social networking into Google's enormous ecosystem through features such as Circles and Communities.
The platform received substantial attention but struggled to achieve lasting consumer engagement.
Google eventually shut down the consumer version in 2019. The experiment demonstrated that even Google's enormous distribution advantage could not automatically create a successful social platform.
8. Project Loon: Internet From the Edge of Space
Google's ambitions have sometimes extended far beyond conventional software. Project Loon proposed using high-altitude balloons to deliver internet connectivity to areas where conventional infrastructure was difficult to deploy.
The technology was technically ambitious and generated worldwide attention. Google eventually shut down Loon in 2021, saying the project lacked a clear path to a sustainable business. Few discontinued Google projects can claim to have attempted to redefine global internet infrastructure at this scale.
9. Inbox by Gmail: The Email Experiment That Didn't Survive
Google's Inbox wasn't simply another email application. It attempted to fundamentally change how users interacted with their inboxes through features such as bundles, reminders, snoozing and intelligent organisation.
Inbox launched in 2014 and was retired in 2019. But its ideas did not vanish. Several concepts eventually appeared inside Gmail, making Inbox a particularly interesting example of a discontinued product whose influence survived its own shutdown.
10. Google Wave: Collaboration Before Collaboration Became Mainstream
Google Wave arrived in 2009 with an unusually ambitious vision. It attempted to combine messaging, email and real-time collaboration into one dynamic environment.
The product was innovative but difficult for many users to understand and adopt. Google discontinued Wave in 2010. In hindsight, however, its focus on real-time collaboration looks remarkably familiar in an era dominated by collaborative cloud applications.
11. Daydream: Google's Virtual Reality Detour
Google wasn't content with experimenting with smartphone software and hardware. It also explored immersive computing. Daydream was Google's attempt to establish a mobile virtual-reality platform using compatible Android smartphones and dedicated VR hardware.
The company eventually discontinued Daydream as smartphone-based VR failed to become the mainstream computing platform Google had anticipated.
12. Google Cardboard: VR for Everyone
Before Daydream, Google had a much simpler idea. Cardboard used inexpensive viewers combined with smartphones to make virtual reality accessible to ordinary consumers.
The approach dramatically lowered the barrier to trying VR. While Google's consumer VR ambitions eventually changed direction, Cardboard played an important role in introducing millions of people to smartphone-based immersive experiences.
13. Picasa: Before Google Photos Took Over
Before Google Photos became Google's primary consumer photo platform, there was Picasa. The software helped users organise, edit and share photographs and became a familiar name among digital photography users.
Google discontinued Picasa in 2016 as it shifted its focus toward Google Photos. The transition showed how Google increasingly preferred consolidating photography around a single cloud-based ecosystem.
14. Hangouts: The Messaging Service Caught in Google's Strategy Shifts
Google's messaging history is almost a story of its own. Hangouts became a major communication service, supporting messaging, voice and video.
But Google's communication strategy repeatedly evolved, with new products introduced and older ones repositioned. Hangouts eventually reached the end of its journey as Google shifted users toward other communication products.
15. Google Allo: The AI Messenger Before the AI Boom
Google launched Allo in 2016 with a feature that now looks particularly interesting: Google Assistant integrated directly into conversations. The company was experimenting with AI-assisted communication years before generative AI became mainstream.
Allo, however, failed to establish a lasting position in the crowded messaging market and was discontinued in 2019. Its timing is intriguing — the technology landscape eventually moved much closer to the AI-first communication model Google was already exploring.
16. Google Play Music: The Service That Gave Way to YouTube Music
Google's music strategy went through a major transition with the retirement of Google Play Music. The service offered streaming, music purchases and personal music-library features. Google eventually shut it down in 2020 and shifted users toward YouTube Music.
The move simplified Google's music ecosystem while placing music more firmly within the YouTube family.
17. Google Podcasts: Another Product Folded Into a Larger Platform
Google's podcast strategy followed a familiar pattern. Google Podcasts offered a dedicated destination for discovering and listening to podcasts, but Google eventually discontinued the service in 2024.
Podcast functionality was redirected toward YouTube Music.
Once again, Google chose consolidation over maintaining another standalone consumer application.
18. Google Trips: Google's Attempt to Organise Your Entire Journey
Travel is another area where Google experimented with a dedicated consumer application. Google Trips brought reservations, destination information and travel planning features together.
The standalone app was discontinued in 2019, with Google subsequently integrating travel capabilities across its wider ecosystem. The idea survived even though the app did not.
19. Google Domains: Google's Short Journey Into Domain Registration
Google Domains represented an unusual expansion into a business closely associated with website infrastructure. The service allowed users to purchase and manage domain names through Google.
After operating for almost a decade, Google sold the business to Squarespace in 2023. Unlike many Google shutdowns, this was less about replacing one consumer product with another and more about Google exiting an entire business.
20. Chromecast: When a Successful Product Still Gets Replaced
Not every product on Google's discontinued list was unsuccessful. Chromecast became a popular way of bringing streaming content to televisions, particularly by allowing users to cast content from smartphones and computers.
Google eventually retired the traditional Chromecast product line as it moved toward the Google TV Streamer. That makes Chromecast an important reminder: a product can disappear even when the underlying idea succeeds.
The Google Graveyard Has a Pattern
Google’s discontinued products reveal a company that has never been afraid to experiment beyond its core businesses. From Orkut and Google+ in social networking to Wave, Hangouts and Allo in communication, Google repeatedly entered highly competitive categories. Nexus, Glass, Project Ara, Stadia, Cardboard, Daydream and Project Loon further demonstrate how broadly the company has tested new technology ideas.
But many of these shutdowns did not mark the end of the underlying idea. Inbox influenced Gmail, Nexus paved the way for Pixel, Picasa transitioned into Google Photos, Play Music gave way to YouTube Music, while Chromecast evolved into Google’s newer television strategy. In several cases, Google effectively carried forward the most useful elements of discontinued products rather than abandoning the technology altogether.
As Google moves deeper into artificial intelligence, cloud computing and Gemini-powered experiences, its history of experimentation remains highly relevant. New products will inevitably be tested, redesigned and, in some cases, retired. Yet the company’s 28-year journey shows that a shutdown can represent more than an ending. At Google, yesterday’s discontinued experiment can sometimes become tomorrow’s mainstream feature.
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