Google apparently shut down its SMS
Search function last week without
warning, but the news barely made a
splash outside of its niche group of
feature phone owners.
Starting Thursday, a handful of users
turned to the Google Product Forums to
commiserate over the loss of their free,
text message-based search.
The function allowed non-smartphone
owners to text Google (466453) with a
question — directions, weather, sports
scores, movie times — and receive results
sans hyperlinks via SMS. As TechCrunch
pointed out , it was mainly intended for
feature phones without data connections.
It could, however, be utilized on any
smartphone, as well.
Those who attempted to use SMS Search
as of May 9 began receiving the following
message: "SMS search has been
shutdown. You can continue to search the
web at google.com on any device."
The "SMS Search" link on the Google SMS
applications page , meanwhile, currently
goes to a dead link. Google's other SMS-
based products — calendar, Blogger,
Gmail, and SMS messages via Google Voice
— appear to still be working.
Google did not immediately respond to
PCMag's request for comment, but in a
Friday forum post, Googler Jessica S. said
"closing products always involves tough
choices, but we do think very hard about
each decision and its implications for our
users. Streamlining our services enables
us to focus on creating beautiful
technology that will improve people's
lives."
But that wasn't enough to satisfy some
loyal customers.
"Some users only have voice + sms
enabled (no data plan)," Greg Meboe
wrote on the forum on Friday. "Google
SMS search was my link to information on
the go. Please consider restoring this
service."
"I am so disgusted by this change,
especially without notifying the customers
who used this as a daily and integral part
of their lives," user Dyerra wrote last
week. "I was quite dismayed to find that a
service that had worked only yesterday
no longer worked today. ... This seriously
makes me want to not use Google for
anything anymore. I used to feel very
positively about Google's business
practices and ethics, but this has tainted
my viewpoint."
It's no surprise that companies are
shifting their focus from low-end devices
to smartphones and tablets. As of the first
quarter of 2013, smartphones officially
outsold feature phones for the first time,
in what IDC called a "seasonally slow"
three months.
This isn't the first time Google has irked
users with plans for a product shutdown,
either. In March, the company announced
that it will shutter Google Reader as of
July 1, prompting outrage (and online
petitions ).
source:pcmag
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