<s>
iGoogle	B-Application
(	O
formerly	O
Google	B-Application
Personalized	I-Application
Homepage	I-Application
)	O
was	O
a	O
customizable	O
Ajax-based	O
start	O
page	O
or	O
personal	O
web	O
portal	O
launched	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
in	O
May	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
Google	B-Application
had	O
made	O
the	O
service	O
available	O
in	O
many	O
localized	O
versions	O
in	O
42	O
languages	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
over	O
70	O
country	O
domain-names	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2007	O
,	O
7.1	O
million	O
people	O
used	O
iGoogle	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2008	O
,	O
20%	O
of	O
all	O
visits	O
to	O
Google	B-Application
's	I-Application
homepage	O
used	O
iGoogle	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
iGoogle	B-Application
gadgets	I-Application
interact	O
with	O
the	O
user	O
and	O
use	O
the	B-Application
Google	I-Application
Gadgets	O
API	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
gadgets	O
for	O
Google	B-Application
Desktop	I-Application
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
within	O
iGoogle	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	B-Application
Google	I-Application
Gadgets	O
API	B-General_Concept
is	O
public	O
and	O
allows	O
anyone	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
gadget	O
for	O
any	O
need	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
API	B-General_Concept
allows	O
developers	O
to	O
create	O
widgets	O
(	O
web	O
plugin	B-Application
,	O
portlet	B-Language
,	O
webpart	O
)	O
to	O
run	O
in	O
users	O
 '	O
iGoogle	B-Application
pages	O
or	O
other	O
web	O
pages	O
quickly	O
and	O
easily	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
have	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
add	O
a	O
gadget	O
to	O
their	O
iGoogle	B-Application
portal	O
,	O
or	O
have	O
it	O
coded	O
into	O
their	O
own	O
website	O
,	O
by	O
specifying	O
a	O
URL	O
(	O
this	O
may	O
be	O
done	O
indirectly	O
via	O
the	O
gadget	O
registry	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
will	O
appear	O
in	O
the	O
registry	O
if	O
the	O
gadget	O
has	O
been	O
submitted	O
to	O
iGoogle	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
iGoogle	B-Application
Gadget	O
is	O
the	O
part	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
Gadgets	I-Application
API	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
also	O
allows	O
all	O
users	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
special	O
gadget	O
that	O
does	O
not	O
require	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Gadgets	O
API	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
Channel	I-General_Concept
"	O
–	O
displays	O
videos	O
from	O
a	O
YouTube	B-General_Concept
channel	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
iGoogle	B-Application
,	O
users	O
could	O
select	O
unique	O
themes	O
for	O
their	O
Google	B-Application
homepages	O
;	O
some	O
themes	O
were	O
designed	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
itself	O
and	O
others	O
by	O
third	O
parties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
8	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
a	O
testing	O
period	O
for	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
iGoogle	B-Application
which	O
altered	O
some	O
features	O
,	O
including	O
replacing	O
the	O
tabs	O
with	O
left	O
navigation	O
,	O
adding	O
chat	O
functionality	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
canvas-view	O
gadget	O
for	O
RSS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
forums	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
explained	O
by	O
Google	B-Application
staff	O
that	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
opt-out	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
control	O
for	O
the	O
test	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
October	O
16	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
iGoogle	B-Application
and	O
retired	O
its	O
older	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
stated	O
purpose	O
was	O
to	O
prepare	O
for	O
OpenSocial	B-Application
,	O
with	O
the	O
new	O
canvas	O
view	O
stated	O
as	O
playing	O
an	O
important	O
role	O
in	O
that	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
workaround	O
to	O
restore	O
the	O
original	O
tab	O
layout	O
was	O
found	O
by	O
attaching	O
"	O
?	O
gl	O
=	O
all	O
"	O
to	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
iGoogle	B-Application
URL	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
led	O
to	O
an	O
immediate	O
resurrection	O
of	O
the	O
controversy	O
over	O
user	O
choice	O
,	O
both	O
in	O
the	O
UK	O
and	O
worldwide	O
,	O
as	O
many	O
people	O
unhappy	O
with	O
the	O
new	O
layout	O
imposed	O
on	O
US	O
users	O
had	O
switched	O
to	O
the	O
UK	O
Google	B-Application
site	O
where	O
the	O
workarounds	O
still	O
worked	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Within	O
hours	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
frequently	O
asked	O
question	O
on	O
the	O
help	O
forum	O
was	O
how	O
to	O
restore	O
the	O
old	O
layout	O
,	O
and	O
there	O
was	O
a	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
feature	O
suggestions	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
effect	O
on	O
the	B-Application
Google	I-Application
product	O
ideas	O
page	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
solutions	O
had	O
come	O
to	O
the	O
fore	O
,	O
which	O
require	O
adds-ons	O
,	O
greasemonkey	B-Operating_System
scripts	O
or	O
bookmarklets	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
October	O
14	O
,	O
2011	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
through	O
its	O
official	O
blog	O
that	O
with	O
its	O
new	O
focus	O
on	O
Google+	B-Application
,	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
interact	O
socially	O
on	O
iGoogle	B-Application
would	O
be	O
disabled	O
on	O
January	O
15	O
,	O
2012	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
mobile	O
version	O
of	O
iGoogle	B-Application
would	O
be	O
shut	O
down	O
on	O
July	O
31	O
,	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
3	O
,	O
2012	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
on	O
its	O
blog	O
that	O
several	O
of	O
its	O
services	O
,	O
including	O
iGoogle	B-Application
,	O
would	O
be	O
retired	O
due	O
to	O
"	O
the	O
unforeseen	O
evolution	O
of	O
web	O
and	O
mobile	O
apps	O
and	O
the	O
erosion	O
of	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
the	O
site.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
iGoogle	B-Application
was	O
retired	O
on	O
November	O
1	O
,	O
2013	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
mobile	O
version	O
being	O
retired	O
on	O
July	O
31	O
,	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
its	O
discontinuation	O
of	O
iGoogle	B-Application
,	O
several	O
alternatives	O
appeared	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
which	O
are	O
still	O
online	O
(	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
