Google is shutting down its personalized iGoogle service in 30 days, which will leave an estimated 15 million[1] loyal users without their favorite homepage. Google remains ambiguous as to why the service is being terminated, stating the need “eroded over time.” In light of this, several start pages were developed as excellent alternatives, some even promise to be better than the original iGoogle.
I don’t understand Google’s decision to abandon iGoogle,” writes Oldsage in the Google Product Forums. “I know what I lose – a valuable, everyday tool for managing my life, but I’m baffled in trying to figure out what Google gains.” Over 1,000 other complaints were posted, from amazed to utterly devastated: “Why…why, why… in all of noise iGoogle is the ONE place that I can sort that noise out – What’s the big deal? Why not just leave it alone?
Many iGoogle alternatives exist to fill the void so many got emotional about. Most offer easy migration and export/import options. Some are feature-packed and complex, like Netvibes or Protopage, while others are incredibly simple and intuitive, like STARTME – offering a fast and clean experience, possibly even more than iGoogle itself.
Links: (http://startme.com, http://protopage.com, http://netvibes.com)
In conclusion, chances are you know a few people who are going to be affected by this massive Google decision, some of them might even be surprised as their home page disappears one day. Now is the time to tell them to move on, pick an alternative, and who knows – it might even be better than what they’re used to.
*[1]https://developers.google.com/igoogle/docs/users (almost 15M for the Weather widget only)
