Google is closing down its
Google Lively
service, which allows users to interact in virtual rooms they
design using their own avatars (characters).
Google only launched Google Lively in July, but it now says it
wants to spend its resources on "core" products and services
instead.
Social networking users will be disappointed to hear that Google
does not see this market as a priority, despite the millions of
extra social networking users signing up to such sites every
year.
Google said of its decision, "In July, we launched Google Lively
because we wanted users to be able to interact with their friends
and express themselves online in new ways.
"Google has always been supportive of this kind of
experimentation because we believe it is the best way to create
groundbreaking products that make a difference to people's lives.
But we have also always accepted that when you take these kinds of
risks not every bet is going to pay off."
It said, "Despite all the virtual high fives and creative rooms
everyone has enjoyed in the last four-and-a-half months, we have
decided to shut Lively down at the end of the year. It has been a
tough decision, but we want to ensure that we prioritise our
resources and focus more on our core search, ads and apps
business."
Lively.com is closing after 31 December, so at least users who
do not get out much can still have a virtual new year's eve party
in their room.