January 2, 2024 at 12:05PM
Google has announced the end of Usenet groups support on Google Groups due to spam and decline in legitimate activity. The change, effective from February 22, 2024, includes no post, subscribe, or view new Usenet content. Historical content remains accessible, and guidance is provided for transitioning to alternative platforms. No impact on non-Usenet content.
From the meeting notes, it’s clear that Google is ceasing support for Usenet groups on its Google Groups platform from February 22, 2024. This decision is primarily due to the platform’s struggle with spam content and the decline in legitimate activity in text-based Usenet groups.
The changes will prevent users from posting, subscribing, or viewing new Usenet content through Google Groups, but historical Usenet content posted before the cutoff date will remain accessible for viewing and searching. This announcement also marks the end of Google’s NNTP server services and content peering with other NNTP servers.
However, Google is offering guidance for users actively using Usenet content, advising them to transition to alternative platforms by finding a new Usenet client and a public Usenet server. Users are encouraged to conduct web searches for suitable options, and there is no need for data migration since Usenet is a distributed system.
It’s evident that Google’s decision is in response to the decline in legitimate activity in text-based Usenet groups and the increasing use of Usenet for sharing copyrighted and non-text file content. This shift is attributed to users’ adoption of more modern communication technologies such as social media and web-based forums.
Overall, it’s important for users actively engaging with Usenet content to begin preparing for this change and transitioning to alternative platforms as guided by Google.