Area 120 Explained

Parent Organization:	Google
Key People:	Bradley Horowitz, Gabor Cselle
Named After:	100% of time on 20% Projects

Area 120 is Google's in-house incubator in which employees work on 20% Project product ideas. It has helped develop Gmail, AdSense, Google News, and Google Cardboard.^[1]

The Area 120 division was created by Sundar Pichai in March 2016 and has since spawned over 50 projects.^[2] The objective for the Area 120 program is to incubate products that "graduate" back to Google.

In November 2021, the division was reorganized under a new division called Google Labs (unrelated to the defunct service of the same name).^[3]

Area 120 was significantly reduced as part of Google's January 2023 layoffs.^[4]

Notable products

The program has funded more than 50 different ideas from Google employees. Notable product experiments which have emerged from Area 120 include:

• Tables – a collaborative database program comparable to Airtable. Graduated to Google Cloud.^[5]
• Reply – an Android app which allowed users to insert pre-defined replies (called "Smart Replies") into conversations on messaging apps on their phone.^[6]
• Stack – an Android app that digitizes personal documents and extracts key information.^[7]
• Gamesnacks – an HTML5 games platform for mobile websites.^[8]
• Keen – a competitor to Pinterest.^[9]
• Byteboard – a product that interviews software engineering candidates.^[10] Spun out into a separate company in Oct 2021.^[11]
• ThreadIt – a short-form video communication service.^[12]
• Orion Wifi – a product letting businesses sell Wi-Fi capacity to wireless carriers.^[13]
• Shoploop – a video shopping platform.^[14]
• Touring Bird – a search tool for experiences in major cities.^[15] Graduated into Google Travel.^[16]
• Tangi – a short-form video site.^[17]
• AdVR – a product providing advertisements in VR.^[18]
• Chatbase – a conversational AI platform for building and analyzing customer service chatbots.^[19] Graduated into Google Cloud.
• AdLingo – a marketing platform for bringing conversational assistants into display advertising.^[20] Graduated into Google Workspace.

Byteboard spinout

The Byteboard project was spun out from Google into a separate company in Oct 2021,^[21] due to Byteboard using Google employees as human evaluators of candidates for Google competitors, which raised ethical issues.

Notes and References

1. News: McCracken . Harry . December 3, 2018 . An exclusive look inside Google's in-house incubator Area 120 . . September 18, 2021.
2. News: June 30, 2017 . Google Unveils Advr, An Experimental Area 120 Project for Advertising in VR . Customer Experience Magazine . September 18, 2021.
3. Web site: Perez . Sarah . November 11, 2021 . Google reorg moves AR, VR, Starline and Area 120 into new 'Labs' team . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211111202202/https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/11/google-reorg-moves-ar-vr-starline-and-area-120-into-new-labs-team-reporting-directly-to-sundar-pichai/ . November 11, 2021 . November 14, 2021 . TechCrunch.
4. Web site: Wiggers . Kyle . January 21, 2023 . Area 120, Google’s in-house incubator, severely impacted by Alphabet mass layoffs . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20230123125337/https://techcrunch.com/web/20230123125337/https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/20/area-120-googles-in-house-incubator-severely-impacted-by-alphabet-mass-layoffs/ . January 23, 2023 . January 23, 2023 . TechCrunch.
5. News: Perez . Sarah . June 14, 2021 . Google's AirTable rival, Tables, graduates from beta test to become a Google Cloud product . . September 18, 2021.
6. Web site: Garun . Natt . February 22, 2018 . Google’s Reply app is woefully bland — exactly the way it should be . 2022-09-29 . . en-US.
7. News: Perez . Sarah . March 30, 2021 . Google's Area 120 launches Stack, an app that digitizes personal docs and extracts key information . . September 18, 2021.
8. News: Singh . Manish . Kene-Okafor . Tage . February 23, 2021 . Area 120 is beginning to use Google's massive reach to scale HTML5 GameSnacks platform . . September 18, 2021.
9. News: Vincent . James . June 19, 2020 . Google quietly launches an AI-powered Pinterest rival named Keen . The Verge . September 18, 2021.
10. News: Lardinois . Frederic . July 17, 2019 . Google's Area 120 launches Byteboard to improve technical interviews . . September 18, 2021.
11. News: Perez . Sarah . Oct 5, 2021 . Technical interview platform Byteboard spins out of Google's Area 120, takes on new funding . . Oct 5, 2021.
12. News: Heater . Brian . March 18, 2021 . Google Area 120's ThreadIt is bite-size video for team collaborations . . September 18, 2021.
13. News: Hetting . Claus . September 8, 2021 . Google's new 'Orion WiFi' empowers public venues to make money on Wi-Fi offload . WiFi Now . September 18, 2021.
14. News: Perez . Sarah . July 16, 2020 . Google's latest R&D project is Shoploop, a mobile video shopping platform . . September 18, 2021.
15. News: Plautz . Jessica . September 6, 2018 . Easily Find the Best Activities in Top Destinations With This New Tool Out of Google . . September 18, 2021.
16. News: Poojary . Lax . October 22, 2019 . Touring Bird lands with Google to plan your perfect trip . The Keyword . Google . September 18, 2021.
17. News: Perez . Sarah . January 29, 2020 . Google's Area 120 launches Tangi, a short-form video app focused on creativity and DIY . . September 18, 2021.
18. News: Perez . Sarah . June 28, 2017 . Google unveils Advr, an experimental Area 120 project for advertising in VR . . September 18, 2021.
19. News: Perez . Sarah . November 16, 2017 . Google’s chatbot analytics platform Chatbase launches to public . . February 9, 2023.
20. News: Ha . Anthony . October 16, 2018 . Google-incubated AdLingo uses chatbot integration to create conversational ads . . September 28, 2023.
21. News: Perez . Sarah . Oct 5, 2021 . Technical interview platform Byteboard spins out of Google's Area 120, takes on new funding . . Oct 5, 2021.