This is sadly very true. I remember watching Google I/O when Duo and Allo were launched. They seemed like a dead product on arrival - no difference whatsoever to existing offerings. Indeed, I remember how the product was discontinued in record time. If you had asked me, Google Duo was dead. Turns out - perplexingly - they only killed the chat app part (Allo) but the FaceTime part (Duo) still roams the Earth as some sort of an undead Google messaging product, probably awaiting its turn in the purgatory (occupied by G+ maybe).
Apart from GMail, the only Google communication app that actually made a difference and people liked was Hangouts. For unknown reason, Google would really love to kill it. It officially does not even exist anymore, but I and many others still use it daily.
Funny how when you have nearly infinite money you can do absolutely mad stuff and no one just cares.
Oh, people care. Google put a ton of money and effort into Stadia, but it flopped on launch and now seems quite dead. I'd put a good chunk of the blame for that on Google's reputation. Any online discussion or news article about Stadia mentioned Google's penchant for killing products. It's hurting them, but perhaps not enough to overcome their ad revenue, so there's not much motive to change.
Apart from GMail, the only Google communication app that actually made a difference and people liked was Hangouts. For unknown reason, Google would really love to kill it. It officially does not even exist anymore, but I and many others still use it daily.
Funny how when you have nearly infinite money you can do absolutely mad stuff and no one just cares.