Something’s getting buried over at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California. iGoogle is officially retiring on November 1, 2013.  Users mourned the demise of the mobile version on July 31, 2012. Now, the desktop version is also going down.

Here. Take a tissue.

Can someone tell me what iGoogle is?

In case you’re unaware of iGoogle, you can still check it out for a limited time. It’s basically your own personalized Google homepage. You can use it as your reader, get local weather at a glance, check stock indexes, snag a quick translation of that French phrase you keep forgetting, browse jobs in your niche, check out trending YouTube videos, take a look at CNN’s headlines and even get a glance of your Gmail inbox. Wow. What a lot of coolness all on one page.

But beginning in November, it will be no more.

Why?

Wondering why it’s getting the ax? Fair question. We wondered, too. Google’s official blog has the answer.

With modern apps that run on platforms like Chrome and  Android, the need for something like iGoogle has eroded over time, so we’ll be winding down iGoogle.

Well, that’s sort of an answer. It leaves plenty of room for prophets and Google-watchers to try and figure out the real reason for the retirement.

So, what’s the real reason?

First, a caveat. We’ve learned that prognosticating Google’s motives and future is a fool’s errand. There are entire blogs devoted to rumors and conspiracy theories about Google. That being said, we see some circumstantial indications that lead us to posit three reasons why this particular Google creation is biting the dust.

• The mobile reason. Google wants to own mobile. Ever heard of Android phones? More importantly, they want to own the interactive and experiential side of mobile. That’s why Google Now is getting vast amounts of time and resources. Google Now is a far more interactive and impressive set of real-time tools that eclipses the need for a clunky personalized “home page.” What use does it serve if your mobile device already told you about the weather when you woke up, and even informed you that the traffic was going to be bad on the way to work this morning? Besides, the mobile version notwithstanding, it was really desktoppy. (We made that word up.) Desktoppy is so 2005.
• The GooglePlus reason. We already know that Google+ is the new big Google thing. Already, thanks to Google+, we’re experiencing transformed search results, a massive social media shove in their direction, and a change in how we understand local search. Google+, while distinctly different from its predecessor, is nonetheless a dominant factor in its demise. Google+ wants to make everything social. iGoogle is little more than an aggregate of third-party feeds. Google+ is more like a mighty, rushing river, and Google surely doesn’t want to lose water from a little tributary.
• The practical reason. Streamlining, advancing, improving, and conquering — that’s what Google does. We who have been in the SEO/SEM business for a while understand that our jobs are basically a dance with the Google giant. We’re trying to stay in step, to anticipate the next move, and to look good doing it. This is yet another move on Google’s part to redefine the Internet, to streamline their own business model, and to steer the Internet masses in the direction they prefer.

The practical reason above, of course, is the reason that doesn’t really explain a whole lot. One Google employee, wrote:

“We are focusing our energy on the products with the biggest potential to make a difference:  Technology creates tremendous opportunities to improve people’s lives. But to make the most of them, we need to focus – or we end up doing too much and not having the impact we strive for.  So last fall we started a spring-clean, and since then we’ve closed or combined more than 30 products.

We get that.

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Outrage, Fallout, and Moving on.

The outrage is predictable. But, hey, it’s Google’s prerogative. Let’s admit it. We are dependent upon Google — for good or bad. They store our documents, manage our mail, tally our numbers, queue our cat videos, give us search results, and basically own our souls.

Okay, maybe not our souls.

It’s time to wipe our tears, toss the tissue, and move on. There’s more good stuff waiting, and there’s probably even more change on the horizon, too.

Oh, and that bit about your soul — I hear they have a product called iSoul coming out next. Just wait for it.

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