Figures. I actually USE iGoogle.

Me too. iGoogle is my opening page in Firefox. Does this mean I have to ditch Firefox and use Chrome now? ;-)

Great. One of my sites gets 25% of its traffic from an iGoogle gadget I made.

Perhaps I should look in to Facebook apps instead. I guess that's Google's strategy, to send users and content producers off to Facebook.

Meh. I'm going to put my own together. Maybe get my developer to do it. This is like the fourth platform where I stored and separated all my vast collection of bookmarks; I moved them all (at great pains) to Google cause I thought iGoogle would stick around for a while. My bad.

I reckon *users* who want such a thing may consider going for whatchamacallit "iYahoo" but I dunno what it'll mean for *webmasters*.

I use iGoogle 20 times a day.

I have all my bookmarks, a currency quote for the 3 currencies I use, headlines, stock market quotes & 3 different headline services.

I can't understand why they want to close it. It's super useful. Really disappointed if it's not replaced with something of equal value. Especially bookmarks - on iGoogle they are simple & orderly & you can have up to 100 showing.

On the other hand Google Bookmarks as a stand alone is the opposite. I use Google Chrome 96% of the time.

They want people to go to Google+ first. Period.

Agreed..
for those who don't want to go to G+ ..this was mentioned on el reg in their "comments" section of their article about the igoogle shut down
[ustart.org...]
it might work for some of those who do not want to "roll their own"..:) HTH

This is like the fourth platform where I stored and separated all my vast collection of bookmarks; I moved them all (at great pains) to Google cause I thought iGoogle would stick around for a while.
-netmeg

I have all my bookmarks, a currency quote for the 3 currencies I use, headlines, stock market quotes & 3 different headline services.
- Tropical Island

ok, I hate to give up all my valuable secrets, but here's one that another longtime programmer told me was "genius".

I make an HTML page, (e.g.- "mystuff.html") and keep it on my desktop. That single page contains links to everything that's important to me. I'm one click away from all my administration consoles, login to various accounts, all SE's, favorite sites, watched ebay listings, local craigslist with several pre-loaded searches as URLs, etc..

Whenever I install a new browser, the first thing I do is make that file my home page.

If you need it from the road, you can also upload a copy of it to a backwater directory somewhere so only you can get to it, take a copy on disk, flash-drive, whatever... low tech but I don't have to depend on anyone.

bye bye iGoogle... I used you for a week once.

So what's wrong with using the bookmarks function that is readily available in every popular web browser since they were invented?

Who would ever consider posting their personal bookmarks online?

I won't miss iGoogle for bookmarks. What I like it for is the way I can summarise in a single page about 10 different websites in small panels, including the latest articles.

I must admit I haven't really thought about how I can do this another way, but it will involve some effort. My bookmarks are sorted through Firefox Sync.

I make an HTML page, (e.g.- "mystuff.html") and keep it on my desktop.

I did the same for my most often visited destinations, although most of my other bookmarks are still in browser menus, and over time the different versions are diverging.

So what's wrong with using the bookmarks function that is readily available in every popular web browser since they were invented?

Nothing, except portability. If you use multiple browsers, multiple computers, or multiple operating systems, browser bookmarks are difficult to keep synchronized.

With the web page, you just copy the page, make it your home page, and you're synchronized.

Edit: Well, not quite... The different versions of my home page are diverging, too.

Who would ever consider posting their personal bookmarks online?

I think a lot of the popularity of online bookmarking services is to be synchronized, with the same set of bookmarks no matter where you are.

ustart looks like a neat replacement for iGoogle at first glance, and has many gizmos as good - or better than the iGoogle options.

But you'll soon find that some just don't work, others have dialog boxes in French, others are painfully out of date.

Hopefully the surge in demand will drop a hint that development work needs to be done!

I'm going to stick with it for now ... but I suspect the irritation factor will drive me back to the low-tech "mystuff" page I used before iGoogle.

I don't use it, I rolled my own a long time ago,.. which I hardly ever use ;-)..never did use the G one..

the need for iGoogle has eroded over time, so we’ll be winding it down. Users will have 16 months to adjust or export their data.

Funny, Google is probably feeling the same way about OUR websites too :)

Funny, Google is probably feeling the same way about OUR websites too :)

Not to worry...they are already paying the price of losing touch with their users and "partners"...

I went to see the new spiderman tonight.... spiderman was "googeling" using.... drum rolls.... BING! ...in all three web searching scenes throughout the movie.

The tides are turning!

P.S.
Only out of touch fools will insist on acting like pigs yet expect everyone to love them just the same...

P.P.S.
Good movie. Great CGI.

Does Google actually invent anything or does it just copy the work of others? It seems to have a very high failure rate when it tries to clone existing services and sites.

Regards...jmcc

iGoogle has a huge user base and they killing it. There are even petition online to get them to change their mind. My questions is why spend time/resources promoting Google Plus, if it could easily be pulled from under you at anytime?

@Web_speed - Spidie was using Bing not because he thought it was great (he's a fictional character), but because M$ paid a couple of hundred grand to the producers. It's called 'product placement, BTW ;)

Speaks more of a desperation to reach 'the kidz' than confidence in their product.

@Quadrille Yep but if Spidie had used Google he'd end up chasing Superman. :) Still though it will take some time for Bing to displace the concept of "googling".

Regards...jmcc

@jmcc - Spidie will ALWAYS be chasing Superman, the #1 Super Hero. Maybe he should stop using bing and switch to a proper search engine? But these cheapo Marvel super heroes do like their product placement, I guess :)

@Quadrille

Kidz & fictional my ar... 10PM movie session, VMAX cinema 95% full with young to old adults 18 to 55 yrs of age.

Product placement? yes off course the beast exist (no one was born yesterday lad) but i honestly think that in this particular case the world (Hollywood in particular) are quite fed up with that other monopolistic search monster and its abuse of power...

And one more thing... i hardly ever hear "find us on G" on any TV or radio ads like before... what some would call free "product DISplacement"...

P.S.
I hear nor spide or superman like the (ultra desperate) idea of being forced fed Google+...

[edited by: Web_speed at 10:34 pm (utc) on Jul 5, 2012]

@Quadrille Iron Man or Batman would be way better (techie super heroes). :) If Google loses Hollywood then they may well find themselves in real trouble.

Regards...jmcc

Iron Man or Batman would be way better (techie super heroes).

@jmccormac
I don't think Hollywood will go along with it regardless of how much g offer$ to pay. It will make the movie look so 2006...bing is the new thing and it shines...

Does Google actually invent anything or does it just copy the work of others?

When I read this I had to double check to see if I my posted it. I last counted their offerings a couple of years ago.... more than 130 from buyouts but mostly plagiarism. Only one makes a profit and that huge profit finances their fun and games.

@WS - you are charmingly naive :)

It's product placement. I bet you $100.00 to the charity of your choice.

(It'll be listed in the credits ... not sure I can face it a second time - good movie, but I preferred the last series, with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst)

CLUE 1: Yes, a few movies featured Google - but then they tended to feature anonymous searches (looking for a sponsor, no-one buying?) .... now it's pure (and very obviously) bing.

CLUE 2: There's very, very, very few brands in movies that are NOT 'placed'

And BTW - unless it the movie is set in a particular period, they'll go to the highest bidder. Hollywood ain't a charity, or a fanboi. It's a business. Nuff said.

@lexi - I've been doing the same thing with a static html page for years. It's password protected and reliable and contains all my frequently used links. You might want to try this service ( [linkable.com...] ) which is a knock off of a similar service I have been developing, but thanks to Google's updates, have lost the funds to continue.

@Quadrille

High tech ideas, services and gadgets featured in these latest "new release" movies often convey future industry direction and the latest fashion, whether we like it or not. ;-) .....

Being a business does not justfy being a pig... and the world has eyes you know...

Not taking the bet, I notice. :)

There are limits to your True Faith in bing ;)