Save data before Dec 5, Google tells Sidewiki users

Search giant Google is closing down by December 5 its Sidewiki, a web annotation service it launched a little over two years ago. Google advised contributors to the project to export their contributions before it shuts down permanently, deleting all contributed data in the process. "Sidewiki will be closed down after December 5, 2011 ... We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for using Sidewiki and for helping make it a compelling product," it said. It also left instructions on how to export their contributions. Sidewiki was one of the products Google was shutting down in favor of new products, or integrating into other existing products. A separate article on The Next Web said Sidewiki was launched on September 23, 2009 as a browser plugin packaged with Google Toolbar. It sought to let users “contribute helpful information next to any webpage." "Sidewiki never caught on. Google is now giving users until 5 December to export their data from the service ... After that date, all data will be deleted and Sidewiki will be no more," it said. — TJD, GMA News