The Google Labs website hosts early stage product prototypes that end users can try out without guarantees that they'll work well or even exist in the near future.

"While we've learned a huge amount by launching very early prototypes in Labs, we believe that greater focus is crucial if we're to make the most of the extraordinary opportunities ahead," wrote Bill Coughran, senior vice president for Research and Systems Infrastructure, .

During the company's most recent earnings conference call, co-founder Larry Page, who took over as CEO in April, said that the company was in the midst of trimming its broad palette of products and services, eliminating those that haven't proven popular and successful, like Google Health and Google PowerMeter, shut down in late June.

However, the closure of Google Labs is bound to raise eyebrows in the industry, considering that Google has always touted its policy to encourage innovation among employees and to release new products early and refine them iteratively in the public eye.

Also, over the years Google Labs, described by Google as a "playground" for its most "adventurous users," served as the incubator for what later became widely used Google products, like Google Reader, Google Groups and Google Maps.