iGoogle shut down November 1st 2013 – Looking for Alternatives?

If you used Google Chrome or any other web browser and their popular service iGoogle, you should already know that Google shut down iGoogle on Nov. 1st, 2013. This was a customize-able ‘portal’ web page that people could set as their web browser home page. There are lots of guesses as to why Google closed it down, but they first announced that about a year before, and haven’t said much since. Now, anytime you call up iGoogle, it  pushes you to the standard Google page. Rats!

iGoogle had been a favorite of mine to get a quick look at what’s going on. I had widgets for weather at my favorite locations, a live local weather radar map, headline news, tech news headlines, my stock investments, and even a quick view of my Gmail inbox. I am missing iGoogle!

So if you loved iGoogle and wanted to find a replacement that lets you put your own widgets in so you get a nice snapshot of your favorite stuff whenever you open your web browser, there are tons of them out there. Here are our favorites. Unfortunately, you can no longer export your iGoogle settings, so you’ll have to build your new portal from scratch, adding in the widgets that you want from their stock:

Check out my top 3 picks, in no particular order. It sort depends on what you already have or use in terms of internet services:

• My Yahoo
• My MSN
• NetVibes

Once you have chosen a replacement, either one of these or another, you can setup your web browser to use that as a home page, log into it, and then find the controls for that new portal page. If you’d previously exported your iGoogle widgets/settings, you can import that file, otherwise, just start building your portal with widgets! Each one has their own instructions and method of creating and placing widgets on the Portal page.

If you don’t already have an account with either Yahoo or MSN and don’t have another choice you’d prefer, I’d suggest NetVibes  – it has a portal app for your tablet or smartphone along with being usable on any of the major computer web browsers. From the NetVibes link, click the ‘Just me’ link and create an account (use the Sign In button, then look on the right side to create a new account). They even have an iGoogle importer if you’d previously exported your iGoogle settings. Once you have your computer’s web browser set up, you can add apps to your tablet and/or smartphone from the Apple App Store or Google Play store, and log in with your new NetVibes account. All the widgets and settings from your computer’s setup will show on your tablet and/or smartphone.

But your iGoogle portal may have gotten a bit stale over time, and there are lots of new sources to populate your new home page, so check out the plethora of widgets that any of these replacements offer you, you might find even better ways to display the information you find most important!

There are a couple of caveats to any choice you make for a replacement for iGoogle – having unrealistic expectations for a 100% conversion is a great way to set yourself up for disappointment:

1. Not all your widgets will transfer over. Some widgets were specifically designed for iGoogle and you’ll have to look in the new portal for similar widgets that do something along the lines of your original widget.
2. Not all your widget settings will transfer over, there’s always something lost in translation…