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Google Health and Google PowerMeter are being closed down for a sheer lack of broad interest, according to the search engine. The services follow the failed Google Wave.
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is closing Google Health and Google PowerMeter, two Web services the search engine held high hopes for that failed to catch on over the last few years.
Launched in May 2008, Google Health was the company's effort to help people access their personal health records online no matter where they are, from any computing device, through a secure portal.
"Now, with a few years of experience, we've observed that Google Health is not having the broad impact that we hoped it would," wrote Google Health Senior Product Manager Aaron Brown June 24.
"There has been adoption among certain groups of users like tech-savvy patients and their caregivers, and more recently fitness and wellness enthusiasts. But we haven't found a way to translate that limited usage into widespread adoption in the daily health routines of millions of people."
The Google Health portal will be closed Jan. 1, 2012, though users may download their health data through Jan. 1, 2013. Google Health data will be deleted after that point.
Users may download their records to a printable PDF; a Continuity of Care Record (CCR) XML that can be imported into other personal health tools such as Microsoft HealthVault; Comma-separated value (CSV) files that can be imported into spreadsheets and database programs; and via a ZIP archive.
Some folks were leery about entrusting their personal healthcare records to Google, but the fact is that the service never caught on because the vast majority of people simply aren't ready or willing to store and access their records online. As with Google Wave and other services the search engine has shuttered, Google Health was ahead of its time.
