• Los Angeles Times, Friday, October 6, 2006 1:33 PM

Google has launched a company-wide initiative called "features, not products" to cut back on the number of products it introduces, while making it easier for consumers to use the ones it does. For example, it plans to combine its spreadsheet, calendar and word-processing programs into one suite of Web-based applications. Google became famous for its simplicity, winning millions of fans with a mostly white home page and simple search box. Now, however, more than 50 products in various stages of development are available across Google's Web sites.

There are so many that the company has collected 35 on a site called "More Google products," which includes digital maps, instant-messaging software, programs that speed up Web surfing, and even a search engine for mail-order catalogs. This summer, Google canceled several services in development and instructed their creators to make them features in other products. "That is a big change in the way we run the company," says CEO Eric Schmidt, describing Google's previous attitude as: "Just get this stuff built and get it out--don't worry about the integration."

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