Editing Google Groups (section)

==History==

===Deja News===
[[File:Deja News logo.png|frame|right|The Deja News logo as it appeared in 1997]]
The '''Deja News Research Service''' was an archive of messages posted to [[Usenet]] discussion groups, started in March 1995<ref>{{Cite magazine |author=WIRED Staff |title=Usenet Sale: Sounds to Silence? |url=https://www.wired.com/2000/10/usenet-sale-sounds-to-silence/ |access-date=2024-09-17 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> by [[Steve Madere]] in [[Austin, Texas]]. Its [[search engine]] capabilities won the service acclaim, generated controversy, and significantly changed the perceived nature of online discussion. This archive was acquired by Google in 2001.{{citation needed paragraph|date=June 2021|reason='won the service acclaim', 'generated controversy', 'significantly changed the perceived nature of online discussion' and 'acquired by Google in 2001' all need references to reliable sources.}}

While archives of Usenet discussions had been kept for as long as the medium existed, Deja News offered a novel combination of features. It was available to the public, provided a simple World Wide Web user interface, allowed searches across all archived [[newsgroup]]s, returned immediate results, and retained messages indefinitely. The search facilities transformed Usenet from a loosely organized and ephemeral communication tool into a valued information repository. The archive's relative permanence, combined with the ability to search messages by author, raised concerns about privacy and confirmed often-repeated past admonishments that posters should be cautious in discussing themselves and others.<ref>Chuq Von Rospach. ''[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/primer/part1/ A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community]''. Usenet introductory document posted regularly until 1999.</ref>

While Madere was initially reluctant to remove archived material, protests from users and legal pressure led to the introduction of "nuking", a method for posters to permanently remove their own messages from search results. It already supported the use of an "[[X-No-Archive]]" message header, which if present would cause an article to be omitted from the archive. This did not prevent others from quoting the material in a later message and causing it to be stored. Copyright holders were also allowed to have material removed from the archive. According to Humphrey Marr of Deja News, copyright actions most frequently came from the [[Scientology vs. the Internet|Church of Scientology]].<ref>Lawton, George (January 1997). [http://sunsite.uakom.sk/sunworldonline/swol-01-1997/swol-01-archives.html Internet archives: Who's doing it? And can you protect your privacy?]. ''SunWorld''.</ref>

The capability to "nuke" postings was kept open for many years but later removed without explanation under Google's tenure. Google also mistakenly restored previously "nuked" messages at one point, angering many users.<ref>{{Cite book|title = I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59|last = Edwards|first = Douglas|publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year = 2011|isbn = 978-0-547-41699-1|location = U.S.|pages = [https://archive.org/details/imfeelingluckyco00edwa/page/209 209–213]|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/imfeelingluckyco00edwa/page/209}}</ref> "Nukes" that were in effect at the time when Google removed the possibility are still honored, however. Since May 2014, European users can request to have search results for their name from Google Groups, including their Usenet archive, delinked under the [[right to be forgotten]] law. As of 2015, Google Groups was one of the ten most delinked sites.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/transparencyreport/removals/europeprivacy/?hl=en |title=Transparency Report |access-date=August 30, 2015 }}</ref> If Google does not grant a delinking, Europeans can appeal to their local data protection agencies.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/26/google-removing-right-to-be-forgotten-links|title = Google removing 'right to be forgotten' search links in Europe|website = The Guardian|last = Arthur|first = Charles| date=June 27, 2014 }}</ref>

===Change of direction===
[[File:Deja-dot-com-logo.png|frame|right|The deja.com logo used from 1999]]
The service was eventually expanded beyond search. "My Deja News" offered the ability to read Usenet in the traditional chronological, per-group manner, and to post new messages to the network. Deja Communities were private [[Internet forum]]s offered primarily to businesses. In 1999 the site (now known as Deja.com) made its primary feature a shopping comparison service.<ref>{{Cite magazine |author=WIRED Staff |title=Usenet Sale: Sounds to Silence? |url=https://www.wired.com/2000/10/usenet-sale-sounds-to-silence/ |access-date=2024-09-17 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028 |postscript=. Only for the sentence, "In 1999 the site (now known as Deja.com) made its primary feature a shopping comparison service."}}</ref> During this transition, which involved relocation of the servers, many older messages in the Usenet archive became unavailable. By late 2000 the company, in financial distress, sold the shopping service to [[eBay]], who incorporated the technology into their [[half.com]] services.

===Google Groups===
{{update-section|date=February 2025}}
[[File:Google Groups logo.gif|thumb|Previous Google Groups logo]]

By 2001, the Deja search service was shut down. In February 2001, Google acquired Deja News and its archive, and transitioned its assets to groups.google.com.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/press/pressrel/pressrelease48.html |title=Google Acquires Usenet Discussion Service and Significant Assets from Deja.com |date=February 12, 2001 }}</ref> Users were then able to access these Usenet newsgroups through the new Google Groups interface.

By the end of 2001, the archive had been supplemented with other archived messages dating back to May 11, 1981.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/googlegroups/archive_announce_20.html |title=20 Year Archive on Google Groups |date=December 11, 2001 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pandia.com/searchworld/2001-26-usenet.html |title=Full Usenet archive now available |publisher=Pandia |date=April 29, 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060312224725/http://www.pandia.com/searchworld/2001-26-usenet.html |archive-date=March 12, 2006  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1709527.stm |title=Digital history saved |publisher=[[BBC News Online]] |date=December 14, 2001 }}</ref> These early posts from 1981 to 1991 were donated to Google by the [[University of Western Ontario]], based on archives by [[Henry Spencer]] from the [[University of Toronto]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/01/07/saving_usenet/index.html |author=Katharine Mieszkowski |title=The Geeks Who Saved Usenet |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |date=January 7, 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030902002600/http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/01/07/saving_usenet/index.html |archive-date=September 2, 2003  }}</ref> A short while later,{{When|date=September 2014}} Google released a new version that allowed users to create their own non-Usenet groups.

When [[AOL]] discontinued access to Usenet around 2005, it recommended Google Groups instead.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/25/aol_cutsoff_newsgroups/|title=AOL ditches newsgroups |first=John |last=Oates |date=January 25, 2005 |website=[[The Register]]}}</ref>

In 2008, Google broke the Groups search functionality and left it nonfunctional for about a year, until a ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' article spurred the company to fix the problems.<ref name="wired1" /><ref name="wired2" />

On February 13, 2015, a [[Vice Media]] story reported that the ability to perform advanced searches across all groups had again become nonfunctional, and to date, Google has neither fixed nor acknowledged the problem. The researcher interviewed stated, "Advanced searches within specific groups appear to be working, but that's hardly useful for any form of research—be it casual or academic."<ref name=motherboard />

As of January 2024, Google Groups carries a header notice, saying:

{{Blockquote|Effective from 22 February 2024, Google Groups will no longer support new Usenet content. Posting and subscribing will be disallowed, and new content from Usenet peers will not appear. Viewing and searching of historical data will still be supported as it is done today.}}

An explanatory page adds:<ref>{{cite web |title=Google Groups ending support for Usenet - Google Groups Help |url=https://support.google.com/groups/answer/11036538?visit_id=638401644159352995-1779246639 |website=Google Support}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|In addition, Google's Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) server and associated peering will no longer be available, meaning Google will not support serving new Usenet content or exchanging content with other NNTP servers.

This change will not impact any non-Usenet content on Google Groups, including all user and organization-created groups.}}