I saw this being announced in the new version of maps for Android and thought that it was a nice addition. Never even knew that they had launched this as a product. I'm not a frequent reader of the Google blogs but it seems that this was the only way users were alerted of its existence.<p>Hopefully they will attract more users through pairing this with maps. It seems that it's better to have it as a feature to what is already a successful project than try and start it on its own.<p>EDIT: typo
They're not strictly 'killing it' they are to develop it into Google Places.<p>Back in SXSW Marissa Mayer spoke of consolidating some of their local efforts:<p><a href="http://searchengineland.com/googles-mayer-we-do-have-too-many-products-in-local-68159" rel="nofollow">http://searchengineland.com/googles-mayer-we-do-have-too-man...</a>