Google, it appears, cannot just stop itself from googling new names for its products.
Modern-day parents do google when researching for what to name their new baby and then the name stays, except for rare exceptions. But for Google, this exception is more of a rule. Google, it appears, cannot just stop itself from googling new names for its products.
The other day, Google renamed Tez, its payments app in India, to Google Pay. Google Pay itself was previously called Pay With Google and Android Pay. Android Pay, in turn, was a successor to Google Wallet. Confused? And so is Google. Well, Google itself was originally called BackRub and much later Google gave birth to its parent Alphabet and the Google brand became a subset of Alphabet.
Tez is just the latest in the clutter of Google’s naming mess. In many cases, they have discontinued an older product and launched a new one with similar features under a new name.
A partial list of the products and services that Google has renamed over the years, follows (in no particular order):
- Chromecast > Google Cast > Chromecast
- TalkBack > Android Accessibility Suite
- Android Market > Google Play
- Google Apps > GSuite
- Android Wear > Wear OS
- Duplex > Chrome Duet
- Webmaster Tools > Search Console
- YouTube Red > YouTube Premium
- Google Drive > Google One
- Google Life Sciences > Verily
- Google Keyboard > GBoard
- Google Research > Google AI
- Android Device Manager > Find My Device
- OnHub > Google WiFi
- Messenger > Android Messages
- Nexus > Pixel
- City Experts > Local Guides
- Froogle > Google Products Search
- Keyhole > Google Earth
- Urchin > Google Analytics
- Maps Engine Lite > My Maps
- Google News Labs > Google News Initiative
- Google Drive > Google One
- Google Now on Tap > Screen Search
- Skybox Imaging > Terra Bella
- Android Go > Android Go Edition
- Daydream (feature) > Screen saver
- Google Enterprise > Google for Work
- Google Print > Google Books
- Google Search History > Google Web History > My Activity
- Jotspot > Google Sites
- Google Talk > GChat > Google Hangouts
- Picasa Web Albums > Google Photos
- Google Wallet > Google Pay
- Google Newstand > Google News
- Google App Store > Google Play Store
- Google eBookstore > Google Play Books
- Google Music > Google Play Music
- Google Code > Google Developers
- Writely > Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
- Google Page Creator > Google Sites
- Google Base > Google Shopping APIs
- Google Checkout > Google Wallet > Google Pay Send
- Google Goggles > Google Lens
- Google > Alphabet
- BackRub > Google
(With inputs from @suhel)