Google has a major trust issue, with the vast majority of users no longer trusting the company to continue supporting its services.
Google has a long and established history of killing off products, with the site Killed by Google listing 295 products and services the company has shuttered. Most recently, the company has killed off Google Podcasts and Google One VPN in quick succession.
In response, Android Police conducted a poll of users to see how many still trusted the company’s services for the long-haul. At the time of writing, over 900 respondents had weighed in, with only 16% saying they were willing to use whatever services Google is working on.
In contrast, 42% said they were hesitant to trust that a new Google product would last more than a couple of years. A full 28% said they will not longer sign up for new Google services. Another 12% said they no longer rely on most of Google’s existing service, including well-established ones. A final 1% had something else in mind.
Google clearly has an issue that it needs to resolve. The company seems to be at least somewhat aware of its reputation, since the company unveiled its Google Enterprise APIs in 2021 in an effort to assure cloud customers that they could rely on the company long-term.
For everything else, however, Google’s reputation for dependability is in tatters. While some may say that Google’s commitment to new, consumer services don’t matter as much as its core search, advertising, and cloud computing, nothing could be further from the truth.
Like many companies, Google’s success depends on an interlacing combination of products and services, with each one strengthening and supporting the others. More than anything, each service builds trust in users and a willingness to invest in the company and its offerings.
Until Google shows it is willing to stick with services it convinces users to invest in, it will continue to lose trust it can’t afford lose.