The right thing to do by Google would be to make the product available as a stand-alone application, so users can still use it even if it doesn't run on Google's infrastructure.
More work, yes. But certainly much better than what they are doing now.
More work, yes. But certainly much better than what they are doing now.
How would they do that? Who would pay the server costs?
Edit: Out of curiosity, is there anyone reading this comment that would be willing to pay for the infrastructure costs to keep Poly alive?
The user would run the server, or another company, or a group of enthousiasts. It doesn't need to be expensive, especially if the user doesn't require many other users on the system.
Did any of your companies ever do that? How did it go?
A commenter here shared an example of a similar product shut down by Microsoft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remix_3D
Disclaimer: Googler, but in no way connect to the Poly team.
Edit: Added Remix 3D example.