Online Observations

FINALLY, Google comes down to Earth

First of all, let me say that I am a Google fan. But I have often wondered how Google can go on spreading their wings without any consolidation. They have just kept on trying new things and starting projects, till now. A couple of months ago, I posted about something I considered as layoffs in Google (the demise of lively). But, those were not real layoffs of course. However, now there have been real layoffs at Google.

Google had started terminating its contracts with subcontractors sometime ago. But finally, it has taken away 100 jobs in their recruitment arm (as per the announcement on the official Google Blog). Not only has it reduced its workforce, it has also begun shutting down a large number of projects. These include Jaiku, Dodgeball, Google Video, Google Notebook, Catalog Search, and the Mashup Editor.

Whether Google will continue to shutdown more projects and whether it continues to reduce jobs is anybody’s guess. But, if Google is feeling the pinch, then we are in for a very rough time for 2009.