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Keen, a project by Google’s Area 120, had been preprogrammed to replicate its features from Pinterest in terms of suggestion. Keen did that using machine learning. Unfortunately, the project will end this month, almost three years after it launched in early 2020.
Google shuts down the Pinterest rival Keen among other Area 120 projects
On Keen, users could create “keens” or boards that focused on their interests such as gardening or baking, and helped them to organize content. Google used its search algorithms and machine learning to provide suggestions based on relevant content as time went on and the users developed their keens.
Despite its novel nature, Keen did not get any significant response from the market with its last major update being in December 2021. The latest news is that the service is going to shut down. The platform users should save and back up their Keen data before March 24.
Users have started receiving notifications urging them to download their Keen data which includes curated links, uploaded pictures, and text posts through a link provided on staykeen.com. After the shutdown, all keens including all posts linked to them, uploads, likes follows and comments will permanently vanish.
The decision to shut down Keen is consistent with Google’s overall reorganization strategy, even though they realize its contribution towards recommendation systems that reflect individuals’ everyday preferences. In January 2023, Google closed several Area 120 projects as part of organizational changes that resulted in layoffs across the company.
The company might build on Keen’s machine-learning algorithm to launch better projects
Google operated Keen as the test bed for their content curation algorithm based on machine learning. But this particular case marks the end of transient experimentation. The idea behind Keen was to help users come across and organize online content but it did not do well as expected and thus Google has decided to concentrate on more successful projects.
Although a good concept, Keen couldn’t measure up to established players in the area of content curation. It’s not so surprising that Google shut it down. However, it’s notable that such brilliant ideas might sometimes fail. Nevertheless, one thing is certain: Google will discover new ways to employ machine learning and other advancements like artificial intelligence to make internet surfing better.