Google Reader is a social service that was free. Google is a company that makes a lot of money, just not on that thing. The product was added to a "projects to cut" list in an email by a Google executive, and the next day it was axed.

Twitter bought Posterous for the talented team. A year later, the service is axed.

This is why things like Newsblur or Posthaven should exist for certain types of socially valuable purposes -- it's a paid service that won't go away. Because, well, money.