Google Keen: A Pinterest Competitor?

Google Keen was an experimental app from Google’s Area 120 incubator that let users curate collections of links, images, and videos around specific interests. You entered a topic, and the app used Google’s machine learning to suggest related content that you could save to a “keen.” It functioned as a more personalized, less social alternative to Pinterest, but Google shut it down in 2022, so it is no longer a direct competitor. Here is the full story of what Keen was, how it worked, and why it ultimately failed to challenge Pinterest.

What Was Google Keen?

Keen launched in May 2020 as a project from Google’s internal innovation lab, Area 120. The app was designed to help people “cultivate their interests” by creating boards called “keens.” You would name a keen (e.g., “Japanese ceramics” or “trail running”), and Keen would use Google’s search and machine-learning algorithms to suggest articles, images, and videos related to that topic. You could then swipe or tap to save the suggestions you liked, and the system would learn from your choices to refine future recommendations.

Unlike Pinterest, which is built around a large public community, Keen was more private and focused on individual discovery. You could follow other users’ keens, but the primary interaction was between you and the algorithm, not between you and other people. This made it feel more like a personal research tool than a social network.

How Did Keen Differ From Pinterest?

Pinterest is a visual discovery engine where users pin images and videos to boards, follow other users, and search across a massive database of ideas. Keen, by contrast, was a smaller, more curated experience. The key differences were:

• Social vs. private: Pinterest is inherently social—you can see what others pin, follow them, and comment. Keen allowed following but did not have comments, likes, or a public feed in the same way.
• Recommendation engine: Keen leaned heavily on Google’s search and AI to generate suggestions, while Pinterest relies on its own recommendation system that analyzes pins and user behavior.
• Content sources: Keen pulled from the open web, including news articles and blog posts, whereas Pinterest is primarily a platform for images and videos that users upload or save from websites.
• User base: Pinterest has hundreds of millions of active users; Keen was a small experiment with a limited audience, primarily early adopters and tech enthusiasts.

In essence, Keen was a more focused, algorithm-driven version of Pinterest, but without the community features that make Pinterest a destination for planning and inspiration.

Why Did Google Shut Down Keen?

Google announced in early 2022 that Keen would be discontinued, with the app shutting down on April 1, 2022. The official reason was that the team had “learned a lot” and would move on to other projects. This is typical for Area 120 experiments, which are often short-lived. The real reasons likely include:

• Low adoption: Keen never gained a large user base. It was invite-only initially and then opened to the public, but it remained a niche product.
• Lack of monetization: Unlike Pinterest, which generates revenue through ads and shopping features, Keen had no clear path to profitability.
• Overlap with existing products: Google already had Google Collections (a feature in Google Search that lets you save and organize links) and Google Discover, which serves personalized content. Keen’s functionality overlapped with these, making it redundant.
• Pinterest’s dominance: Competing with Pinterest in the visual discovery space is difficult, and Google may have decided the investment was not worth it.

Keen’s shutdown was not a surprise to many observers, as Google has a history of killing off experimental products that do not achieve rapid growth.

What Happened to Keen Users’ Data?

When Google announced the shutdown, it provided a way for users to export their keens. Users could download their saved links, images, and notes in a JSON or HTML format. This was done through Google Takeout, the same tool used to export data from other Google services. After the shutdown date, all Keen data was deleted from Google’s servers. If you had a keen, you had to export it before April 1, 2022, or it was lost.

This is a common concern with Google’s experimental products, and it is one reason some users are hesitant to invest time in them. The export process was straightforward, but the fact that the product disappeared entirely shows the risk of relying on an experiment.

Current Alternatives to Keen

If you liked the idea of Keen—private, AI-curated interest boards—there are several alternatives today:

• Pinterest: The obvious choice. You can create secret boards that only you see, and the recommendation engine is mature and powerful.
• Google Collections: This is built into Google Search. You can save images and links to collections, and Google will occasionally show you related content based on your saved items.
• Raindrop.io: A bookmarking service that lets you organize links, images, and videos into collections. It has an AI-powered assistant that suggests related content (though it is a paid feature).
• Are.na: A platform for curating content in a more thoughtful, community-driven way. It is less algorithm-heavy and more about manual curation.
• Mymind: An AI-powered bookmarking app that automatically tags and organizes your saved content, with a focus on visual discovery.

These alternatives range from fully social (Pinterest) to completely private (Mymind), so you can choose based on how much you want to share and how much you want the algorithm to do the work.

Lessons From Keen’s Failure

Keen’s brief life offers a few lessons for both users and companies:

• Niche products need a strong hook: Keen’s AI suggestions were good, but not dramatically better than Pinterest’s or even Google’s own Discover feed. There was no compelling reason to switch.
• Social features drive retention: People are more likely to return to a platform where they can interact with others. Keen’s lack of community features meant there was no network effect.
• Google’s ecosystem is crowded: Keen competed with Google’s own products, which made it harder to justify its existence internally.

For users, the lesson is to be cautious with experimental products. If a tool is labeled as an “experiment” or comes from an incubator, it may not be around for long. Always check if there is an export option before investing significant time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Google Keen still available?

No, Google Keen was shut down on April 1, 2022. The app is no longer available for download, and all user data was deleted after the shutdown date. You cannot access Keen anymore.

Can I use Google Keen as a Pinterest alternative now?

No, because it is discontinued. If you are looking for a Pinterest alternative, consider Google Collections (built into Google Search) or third-party apps like Raindrop.io or Mymind, which offer similar AI-powered curation features.

Why did Google kill Keen?

Google did not give a detailed public explanation, but it is typical for Area 120 projects to be discontinued if they do not show rapid growth or a clear path to monetization. Keen likely suffered from low adoption and overlap with existing Google services.

What was the difference between Keen and Pinterest?

Keen was more private and algorithm-driven, pulling content from the open web, while Pinterest is a social platform where users share and discover images and videos. Keen had no comments, likes, or public feeds, whereas Pinterest is built around those social interactions.

Can I export my Keen data?

If you had a Keen account before the shutdown, you could export your data via Google Takeout. However, that option is no longer available since the service is gone. If you did not export before April 1, 2022, your data was deleted.

Did Keen have any unique features?

Keen’s main unique feature was its use of Google’s machine learning to suggest content from the entire web, not just images. It also had a “collaborative keen” feature where multiple users could contribute to a single board, but this was not widely used.

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