Neither Google Reader nor Talk had been shutdown until 2012, so the whole storyline of Google constantly shutting down stuff hadn’t started yet, this seems like a false recollection.
Though Reader, Talk, Buzz, and Wave were all killed in quick succession and to arguably the exact same forces (Google+), for very similar reasons (walling the garden, "reducing redundancy"). That shutdown wave was brutal and nearly simultaneous enough that of course it defines the narrative of Google constantly shutting down stuff.