Internet search titan Google will shut down as many as 10 products, including Aardvark and Fast Flip, as it streamlines operations and focuses on the ones that have "higher impact".

In a blog post, Google Senior Vice President Alan Eustace said, "Over the next few months we will be shutting down a number of products and merging others into existing products as features."

"This will make things much simpler for our users, improving the overall Google experience. It will also mean we can devote more resources to high impact products- the ones that improve the lives of billions of people."

Products that the search engine company plans to close include a social network powered question and answer search tool Aardvark, news content browsing and reading for the web and mobile devices Fast Flip and a note-taking and URL clipping service Notebook.
It would also close Desktop, which allowed customers to access their documents and data from local sources. The company plans to shift people over to using cloud-based storage and Google Maps API for Flash, which gave ActionScript developers a way to integrate Google Maps into their applications.

Google also plans to eliminate its Google Pack programme, which allows users to download a variety of softwares.  Among other services that would be discontinued are-- Image Labeler, Google Web Security, Subscribed Links and Sidewiki.

"We'll continue to take risks on interesting new technologies with a lot of potential. But by targeting our resources more effectively, we can focus on building world-changing products with a truly beautiful user experience," Eustace added.