Google is adding yet another tombstone to its graveyard of projects and apps, with Cameos for Google set to shut down in a few weeks.
Cameos by Google, for users that aren’t familiar, is a service that the tech company set up which allows netizens to ask celebrities questions, which they answer in the form of a short video clip. The service isn’t applicable to any and all celebrities across the board, however: Google has an exclusivity system set up for which individuals get asked questions. The criteria’s pretty simple, but also very loosely defined, therefore making it hard to pin down exactly who gets selected. There’s no signing up or anything: Google itself selects celebrities or people of renown in their individual fields, and invites them to join Cameos. From there on, the invitee has to download the Android app for this service, and can then make videos of themselves answering frequently asked questions one at a time. Most of these questions are pulled from frequent searches made via the Google Search engine, while others can be submissions from fans. Overall, Cameos by Google sort of feels like a crossover between the unrelated app Cameo and Twitter’s Verified button.
You as a user may also have already encountered these videos online. Looking up your favorite celebrity online, for example, will often show up a slew of videos on the left-hand side of the Google Search results interface. From there on, it’s a matter of just scrolling through the videos and seeing whether or not they answered questions relevant to you. It’s the sort of service that really added a good amount of flavor to Google Search and its results, offering a nice little update with a touch of variety.
So, why discontinue the service in its entirety? Well, we may never know the answer since Google’s very fond of discontinuing services and projects at the literal drop of a hat. There is an entire website by the name of Killed by Google, also known as the Google Graveyard, which highlights the 248 projects that the company has either axed already or has slated for removal and abandonment. Maybe it thought that videos were unnecessary, since answers to questions can be found anyways. Maybe the higher-ups thought that it wasn’t engaging enough, or the premise was too similar to the likes of Cameo. Who knows, really?
H/T: Barry Schwartz
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Cameos by Google, for users that aren’t familiar, is a service that the tech company set up which allows netizens to ask celebrities questions, which they answer in the form of a short video clip. The service isn’t applicable to any and all celebrities across the board, however: Google has an exclusivity system set up for which individuals get asked questions. The criteria’s pretty simple, but also very loosely defined, therefore making it hard to pin down exactly who gets selected. There’s no signing up or anything: Google itself selects celebrities or people of renown in their individual fields, and invites them to join Cameos. From there on, the invitee has to download the Android app for this service, and can then make videos of themselves answering frequently asked questions one at a time. Most of these questions are pulled from frequent searches made via the Google Search engine, while others can be submissions from fans. Overall, Cameos by Google sort of feels like a crossover between the unrelated app Cameo and Twitter’s Verified button.
You as a user may also have already encountered these videos online. Looking up your favorite celebrity online, for example, will often show up a slew of videos on the left-hand side of the Google Search results interface. From there on, it’s a matter of just scrolling through the videos and seeing whether or not they answered questions relevant to you. It’s the sort of service that really added a good amount of flavor to Google Search and its results, offering a nice little update with a touch of variety.
So, why discontinue the service in its entirety? Well, we may never know the answer since Google’s very fond of discontinuing services and projects at the literal drop of a hat. There is an entire website by the name of Killed by Google, also known as the Google Graveyard, which highlights the 248 projects that the company has either axed already or has slated for removal and abandonment. Maybe it thought that videos were unnecessary, since answers to questions can be found anyways. Maybe the higher-ups thought that it wasn’t engaging enough, or the premise was too similar to the likes of Cameo. Who knows, really?
Read next: The search engine giant Google has been stuck in another lawsuit against its location setting