Jul 1st, 2009 | MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Google has quietly dropped a feature that allowed people mentioned in news stories to comment on the articles.
The company said Wednesday that it ended the experiment in May when it redesigned the news section of its Web site.
Google introduced the commentary option in August 2007, but it apparently wasn't getting enough use to justify keeping it. As part of the service, Google spent time and money verifying the identities of the commentators.
With its revenue growth slowing, Google has getting rid of less popular services to save money. In the past year, the company also has closed a virtual-reality program called "Lively" and stopped selling ads for newspapers and radio stations.
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