A not so LIVELY Google.

So is this caused by a down economy with cut backs or is this a result of less than desirable traffic, revenue models and stickiness? Earlier, I made a post about "Free" services moving to different models including the embedding of ads inside the content and deeper into the application vs. traditional banner ads. That did not sit well with some Edubloggers. Now we have the case where companies like Google are making strategic alignments and redirections based on what seems to be based on priorities of their business model.

Two points here:
1. Will we see more of the free Web 2.0 social media tools redirect their efforts, include more of a pay service, embedd content ads, or simply shut down.

2. What will happen to the content, who owns the content, how do you retrieve the content you have created? The solution here is to take screenshots. It might be wise to back up you data, images, etc. to more than just your online community.

Lively no more

11/19/2008 05:55:00 PM

In July we launched Lively in Google Labs 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's the best way to create groundbreaking products that make a difference to people's lives. But we've also always accepted that when you take these kinds of risks not every bet is going to pay off.

That's why, despite all the virtual high fives and creative rooms everyone has enjoyed in the last four and a half months, we've decided to shut Lively down at the end of the year. It has been a tough decision, but we want to ensure that we prioritize our resources and focus more on our core search, ads and apps business. Lively.com will be discontinued at the end of December, and everyone who has worked on the project will then move on to other teams.

We'd encourage all Lively users to capture your hard work by taking videos and screenshots of your rooms.