I think Google abandoning Google Scholar in the near term is unlikely, particularly if there is not a viable public alternative or it is not transformed into one. This is not a full argument to that effect, but there are likely many benefits that accrue to Google by offering Google Scholar to the public. Some of that is discussed in our [paper](/shortcuts/goldenfein2022platforming) -- in a section on "FREE" (also a critique of the charity framing). See also [these comments on Quora from Kynan Eng](https://www.quora.com/Which-is-the-business-model-behind-Google-Scholar-or-is-it-a-byproduct-from-indexing-scientific-articles/answer/Kynan-Eng) ([HT](https://twitter.com/kynan_eng/status/1587569433215750147)). Also, see our paper for why this fear should be balanced against concerns about the status quo--which I touch on in [this tweet](https://twitter.com/danielsgriffin/status/1587454378222686212).

But, here are a few tweets mentioning such a fear (and see the ranging discussions w/in):

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">With Google Reader gone, is Google Scholar next? <a href="http://t.co/BMb1MHOKY8">http://t.co/BMb1MHOKY8</a></p>&mdash; Scholarly Kitchen (@scholarlykitchn) <a href="https://twitter.com/scholarlykitchn/status/316159726893289472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 25, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This apparently is effective April 29th. Had I gone down that road, I would have effectively had a couple of months to figure out how to migrate .5 PB of data to a new solution on top of the grant deadline I need to make.<br><br>God help us if Google decides to kill Google Scholar.</p>&mdash; Bryan William Jones (@BWJones) <a href="https://twitter.com/BWJones/status/1490810940949811203?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 7, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One of these days, google is going to decide that it&#39;s not interested in google scholar anymore, and this app will go bananas.</p>&mdash; Duane Watson (@duane_g_watson) <a href="https://twitter.com/duane_g_watson/status/1534665716800028672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I&#39;d argue that Google Scholar plays a critical role in modern research. It is free, and it absolutely crushes every other scholarly search engine, including specialized ones 👇<br><br>Though it is a bit scary that it seems to be a tiny team &amp; it exists only by the charity of Google... <a href="https://t.co/kNFJMVZ52F">pic.twitter.com/kNFJMVZ52F</a></p>&mdash; Ethan Mollick (@emollick) <a href="https://twitter.com/emollick/status/1587295619449864192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


HT: Antoine Blanchard for linking the @emollick, @duane_g_watson, and @BWJones together: [here](https://twitter.com/Enroweb/status/1587575719705677824) and [here](https://twitter.com/Enroweb/status/1535104147980165120).