Google is closing down Lively, the Second Life competitor its launched in July.
Lively, an online virtual world, has 10,000 unique users, a number Google admits falls short of its target.
Google said on a company blog said Lively would shut at the end of December at which time resources will be refosused on the company's search, advertising and applications businesses. "We've also always accepted that when you take these kinds of risks not every bet is going to pay off," the posting added.
"Lively did teach us about what our users like and what they don't," said a Google spokesperson. "We learned people want to be social in many places on the web, and we learned that users appreciate the ability to meet new people and share content with friends."
Reprinted with permission from PC Advisor. Story copyright 2008 PC Advisor Inc. All rights reserved.
The Livelyzens (Lively users) are coming together to appeal to Google to keep Lively alive.
Lively is a great platform for interaction as well as creativity. It is easy to use, browser based, embeddable on webpages to bring a 3D experience right on your website. While Lively has been in beta and has limited capability in terms of the objects and avatars available, the Livelyzens have been able to come up with very creative ways to create art from what is available. All this in a "clean" 3D world thanks to Google's vigilance in getting rid of rooms with inappropriate content. More than anything, Lively has become a place to make friends for life – from all over the world with wonderful people.
Please visit our website http://livelyzens.com and participate in the Lively Machinima contest we are conducting to show the creative potential of Google Lively. Please also sign our online petition http://livelyzens.com/petition.aspx
We kindly request netizens to support us in reviving a wonderful 3D world that is a kid friendly and a creative space for art and interaction amongst adults.
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