new person got hired after old person left. new person says "we can save x% by shutting down these links. 99% arent used" and the new boss that's only been there for 6 months says "yeah sure".
Why does google kill any project? the people who made it moved on, the new people dont care because it doesn't make their resume look any better.
basically nobody wants to own this service and it requires upkeep to maintain it alongside other google services.
google's history shows a clear choice to reward new projects, not old ones.