Google pulling plug on PowerMeter, Health services

SAN FRANCISCO – Google on Friday announced that it is pulling the plugs on free Health and PowerMeter services that haven’t won legions of users.

“We’re going to retire two products that didn’t catch on the way we would have hoped, but did serve as influential models,” Google Health senior product manager Aaron Brown and Green Energy Czar Bill Weihl said in a blog post.

“While they didn’t scale as we had hoped, we believe they did highlight the importance of access to information in areas where it’s traditionally been difficult,” they said.

A PowerMeter service for tracking home electricity use will shut down on September 16.

Google Health service for storing and selectively sharing personal medical records online will “retire” on January 1 but users will be able to download their information through the following year.

“Both were based on the idea that with more and better information, people can make smarter choices, whether in regard to managing personal health and wellness, or saving money and conserving energy at home,” Brown and Weihl said.

Google Health launched in early 2008 and PowerMeter software made its debut in late 2009.