Ask HN: Why even use any Google services at this point? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why even use any Google services at this point?

3 pointscolesantiago7 comments

Thanks to OpenAI, Google are playing catch up with Gemini and now their priorities have shifted to AI.

I am wondering what is next for Google to shut down after they announced the shutdown of Google One VPN. Google is the most frequent provider that shuts down services than any other service.

Services I can think of that Google might shut down are YouTube, Firebase, Fuschia, Chromebooks, Google Cloud, Google Classroom, Waze, Google News, Google Flights, Google Fonts, Google Groups, etc.

So why even use Google services at this point like Stadia and others if they are just more likely to shut down?

Is it even safe to say that Google itself might shut down?

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Google shuts down services that lose money or that aren't big enough.

Google Cloud is a huge business, as are YouTube, and Chromebooks. Firebase is big enough and is a feeder into Google Cloud.

Many of these other adjacent businesses help Google to know more about you to make more money from you.

Google is a LONG way from shutting down. They are still printing money. It's like asking if Microsoft would shut-down when linux was gaining traction in the server space.

Though search is their bread and butter, they haven't ignored AI, they know what's at risk. In fact, they bought DeepMind before OpenAI existed. Are they on the back foot, a little bit, but you're calling this at Mile 1 of a 100 miler.

Search isn't their mainstay, advertising is.

Good point, but is it more correct to say Search is their product, advertising is their business model?

Search provides the attention to the ads, doesn't it? From that vantage, the product is attention or views or eyeballs, whatever phrase you want to use. Search becomes a loss leader or similar.

>Services I can think of that Google might shut down are YouTube, Firebase, Fuschia, Chromebooks, Google Cloud, Google Classroom, Waze, Google News, Google Flights, Google Fonts, Google Groups, etc.

You forgot: Search, Gmail, Maps, Android (OS and Pixel hardware), Go, Dart, Flutter

Also: why so anything at all when the universe will cease to exist sooner or later and you'll be dead long before.

Read up to YouTube and realize this wasn't a serious post and you're just trolling.

AI needs data, so whatever provides data to Google (e.g., YouTube) is less likely to shutdown.

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