How Google's (Local) Development –> Deprecation Process Affects Innovation
GBP Chat's rise and fall is an example of Google's approach to local product development, which often hurts small developers and innovation more generally.
As you are probably aware Google Business Profile chat and the Business Messages API (that integrates third party products with GBP chat) are both heading to the Google graveyard on July 31st. It was a product that held great promise but having been ignored by the GBP team for the past two years has fallen on hard times.
The big players in the local world will hardly miss it. And the SMBs that had been inundated with spam and review blackmail might breathe a sigh of relief. But the small, forward thinking developers that are providing SMBs with innovative and integrated SMS tools are the ones paying the price for Google's fickle development/deprecation processes.