General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Thank God Facebook is down [View all]LeftInTX
(25,103 posts)Over the last 10 years, websites have gotten more complicated and cumbersome
It used to be, clubs, small business, small organizations etc: Create a free webpage...AOL Hometown, Angelfire, Geocities..cheap, easy free, shows up in search engines..URL's are easy to remember too.
2008: Free DIY websites options such as AOL Hometown, Angelfire, Geocities are disappearing. I create my first free website on Google Sites. Google Sites has a monopoly on free, but no one really notices. Google Sites are easy.
2015: Google Sites starts a mirror, "New Sites"
2018: I try to create a site with the "New Sites" and it's a PITA. It is also not search engine optimized. URL's are clunky and can't be remembered. Unless you are super tech savvy, the only way anyone can find your new site is if they have the URL memorized!
I keep my Classic Site, because it is search engine optimized.
2019: Google announces it will phase out Classic Sites
2021: Google removes Classic Sites: https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2020/08/transition-classic-to-new-google-sites.html
https://9to5google.com/2020/08/06/google-sets-timeline-for-deprecating-classic-google-sites/
Users are encouraged to purchase their own domain etc. Clubs, food trucks, yard sale groups, families etc can't afford this.
So this is where free websites are going.