Google recently announced the discontinuation of two little-known tools: Web Light (quick display of web pages for entry-level smartphones) and Question Hub (Question / Answer system on queries to require the engine with little information) . One could be replaced, the other not…
Several times in the year, Google has made a “charrette” of tools and applications which have not had the expected success and therefore stops their exploitation.
In recent days, we learned that two of these services were going to stop operating. Indeed, they were not the best known:
• web light : This format has been used since 2015 by the search engine to display web pages in a clear format (as its name suggests) to Internet users whose connection is very slow. The pages were thus loaded more quickly and a lot of information was then deleted at the level of the graphic charter (but also of certain advertisements sometimes), while allowing a link to the original version. According to Google, tests indicated that optimized pages loaded four times faster than original pages and used 80% fewer bytes. The increased loading speed also resulted in a 50% increase in traffic to these pages. In short, this format no longer exists, it was withdrawn on December 19: ” While this feature worked as expected and enabled wider access to the wealth of the web, the affordability of more powerful smartphones reduced the need for this feature. We remain committed to having the search experience evaluated and refined to meet the changing needs of our users. »
Announcing the end of Web Light. Source: Google
• Question Center : tool currently available in India, Indonesia, Nigeria and the United States, is based on the following concept: “ First, we collect unanswered questions directly from users to identify gaps in online content. Creators like you can then use this information to create better content for your audience. Finally, once online, this higher quality and richer content can benefit everyone. “. The objective of Question Hub is therefore to provide you with questions from Internet users for which the engine lacks content to answer them in order to encourage you to collect content on this subject. We talked about it a few days ago when a tool for submitting content ideas appeared in beta version in the Search Console. Google will settle its account at the beginning of next year, as indicated on the tool: As of January 5, 2023, the beta version of Question Hub will end. If you wish to retain a copy of your data, you can do so via Google Takeout until March 6, 2023. After this date, Question Hub user data will be deleted. “. It could therefore be replaced by the preview tool in the Search Console…
Announcement of the end of Question Hub. Source : Twitter