The Biz of Coding

Google dumps Trillian from Google Pack

by Ujwal Tickoo on May 20th, 2006

Google (GOOG) has dumped the Multi-Messenger client Trillian from Google Pack. Google had included Trillian as a part of the Google the Pack in January 2006. Trillian comes from a company named Cerulean Studios and allows users to consolidate & chat with IM buddies using different IM services — Yahoo Messenger, AIM, MSN Messenger etc. It also supports Voice Chat besides other features.

In January 06 Google’s Press Release said:

Every program included in the Google Pack is free, has earned a reputation for excellence, and was evaluated to ensure it meets Google’s Software Principles.

In his reaction to Trillian’s dumping by Google, Cerulean’s co-founder Scott Werndoffer wrote on his blog post:

Trillian is no longer included in Google Pack. Our goals are seemingly no longer perfectly aligned with those of Google. Their reasons for removing Trillian are their own and were not made available to us.
We harbor no ill-will towards them and wish them the best of luck; they’re going to need it.

Besides the "they’re going to need" the good luck bit – Scott had interestingly used the word "alignment" in his note included in Google’s Press Note of Jan 06. At that time it was about creating highest quality user experiences. Somewhere in the past months either Trillian’s quality standard has gone down or Google’s "alignment expectations" have changed:

We’re very excited for Trillian to be included in Google Pack, as we at Cerulean Studios have always been very focused on giving end-users the highest quality experience possible…We believe this goal aligns Trillian perfectly with Google Pack.

In an article Juan Carlos Perez reported talking to a Google Spokeswoman who stated:

Google Pack is currently in beta, and the selection of software available through the Pack will continue to evolve

Google Pack has received a mixed response. I have never seen statistics given by Google about the number of active users or the number of downloads of Google Pack, Google Desktop, or Google Talk. Besides as Google Pack already had Google Talk, Google’s Text and Voic Chat program, Trillian presence was always questionable to me.

Currently Google Pack contains 13 software utilities out of which 7 are from Google, and others from companies like Adobe Systems (ADBE), RealNetworks (RNWK) and Symantec Corp. (SYMC) etc.:

1. Google Earth — 3D earth browser
2. Google Desktop — Desktop Companion
3. Picasa — Photo Organizer
4. Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer — Search Toolbar
5. Google Pack Screensaver — Photo screensaver
6. Firefox with Google Toolbar — Web Browser
7. Ad-Aware SE Personal — Antispyware utility
8. Norton Antivirus 2005 — antivirus software
9. Adobe Reader 7 — PDF Reader
10. Google Talk — chat software
11. Google Video Player
12. RealPlayer — media player
13. GalleryPlayer HD – Image Viewer for High Definition Art & Photography on widescreen displays

POSTED IN: Google Pack