Choosing a Google Product to Retire and Defending the Call
Company: Google
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
Pick one Google product that you would shut down. Which one is it, and how would you justify the decision?
```hint Make the criteria do the work
Before naming a product, decide what would make any Google product a good candidate to retire, and think about who would be left behind if it disappeared.
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### Clarifying Questions
- Should the product still be live today, or may I discuss one Google has already announced it is retiring?
- Does sunsetting allow folding the product's best features into another Google product, or must it disappear entirely?
- Are only consumer products in scope, or can I also consider developer, enterprise and hardware products?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- Explicit criteria for judging whether a Google product should be retired, applied consistently to a few candidates
- One committed choice, with reasons grounded in user value, overlap with other Google products and strategic fit
- The impact on users, partners and Google's reputation, including the strongest argument against the choice
- A transition plan for affected users and the metrics that would show the sunset worked
### Follow-up Questions
- What evidence would change your mind before the shutdown is announced?
- How would you keep this decision from making people more reluctant to adopt new Google products?
- If leadership told you the product was profitable, would you still retire it? Why or why not?
Overview: A Google product strategy prompt that asks the candidate to name one Google product they would shut down and justify the choice. It tests the criteria used to judge a product's value, awareness of the impact on users, partners and trust, and the ability to plan a responsible wind-down.