A Google Blunder- the Sad Story of Urchin

Anenome writes "Google has a track record of buying startups and integrating them into its portfolio. But sometimes those acquisitions go terribly wrong, as Ars Technica argues has been the case with Google's 2005 purchase of web-analytics firm Urchin Software Corp. 'In the wake of Google's purchase of the company, inquiring customers (including Ars Technica) were told that support and updates would continue. Companies that had purchased support contracts were expecting version 6 any day, including Ars. What really happened is this: Google focused its attention on Google Analytics, put all updates to Urchin's other products on the back burner, and rolled out a skeleton support team. Everyone who forked over for upgrades via a support contract never got them, even though things weren't supposed to have changed. The support experience has been awful. Since the acquisition, we have had two major issues with Urchin, and neither issue was solved by Google's support team. In fact, with one issue, we were helped up until the point it got difficult, and then the help vanished. The support team literally just stopped responding.'"

Comments

Re:Uncertainty

[somersault]

Beavis: The future sucks. Change it.

Butthead: I'm way cool Beavis, but I cannot change the future.

For a serious comment...

[davidsyes]

On page 15 of my copy read in "CHINDIA: How China and India Are Revolutionizing Global Business", I read that one:

"Google principal scientist Krishna Bharat is settin up a Bangalore lab complete with colorful furniture, exercise balls, and a Yamaha organ -- like Google's Mountain View (Calif.) headquarters -- to work on core search-engine technology."

Maybe write him directly and ask him to supply some of those $10,000 a year developers, unless, that is, they've been re-tasked...

But, the book will set you back (see it as an investment of) $18.95, is 384 pages, and is worth it. It's by Newsweek, and mainly is a narrative compendium of many articles that give hints about what MAY be coming. It's not alarmist, but it IS illuminating and sobering for a LOT of people.

However, I'm tired of the bellyachers who forgot some/many of these prognostications/predictions in Weekly Reader from as far back in 1974. I'm not shocked. I HAVE been hurt (due to poor/non-existent savings) by the downturn, and spent years trying to recover, and earn only about 70% of what I did in 2001, but, I'm not shocked. The REAL problem is too many in the US aren't preparing.

Google drowning Urchin is just Google doing business. But, it might be nice if they return some bodies to the project/software, or release it to Open Source/Community developers, and then sponsor it. Ah, but then that might conflict with their existing plans. Well, Google should spin it off and sponsor or invest in Urchin.