Security News > 2024 > January > Google Groups is ending support for Usenet to combat spam
Google has officially announced it's ceasing support for Usenet groups on its Google Groups platform, a move partly attributed to the platform's increasing struggle with spam content.
The upcoming changes will take effect from February 22, 2024, after which users can no longer post, subscribe, or view new Usenet content through Google Groups.
Google says the change is primarily due to a decline in text-based Usenet groups, with the platform mainly being used to share files or to post spam.
"Much of the content being disseminated via Usenet today is binary file sharing, which Google Groups does not support, as well as spam."
As a result, Google will not support the dissemination of new Usenet content or its exchange with other servers.
All Usenet content currently accessible on Google Groups should be available on the new servers selected by users, and once a new client and server are chosen, users can simply reselect their preferred groups to continue their engagement with Usenet content.