Google Helpouts is shutting down
Google has a long and storied history of creating projects and then sending them to the grave after a while. They did this with Google Wave, Google Reader, and now Google Helpouts. Google Helpouts was a great idea in theory. It allowed ‘experts’ in a certain field help users via video for a rate that ranged from $1 to $10 for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour.
This way was much easier than using a forum where anyone could reply and they could or couldn’t be an expert in that area. Google has made the “tough decision to shut down the product,” and with that the community will go dark on April 20, 2015. Google is no longer accepting new applications for experts and is encouraging current experts to simply abandon their post.
Google has complied a fairly extensive FAQ on the service shutting down, so if you are an expert or a user I would recommend heading over to have all your questions answered. In the comments tell us if you ever used Helpouts or if you’ll use it before the April 20th shut down date.