A tech company as big as is bound to do some amazing things every year, but it’s also not immune to failure. t’s look back at where the search giant went right wrong in 2014.

Android wasn’t exactly ugly in its previous incarnations, but it’s never looked as gorgeous as it does in Android 5.0 llipop. The new software combines flat design conventions with just a touch of depth shadows, giving a sense that Android is built from layers of card stock. Now all we need is for OEMs not to mess it all up.

It’s been nearly two years since launched the prototype version of Glass, its future looks murkier than ever. Instead of building hype, the Glass Explorer program merely exacerbated the stigmas fears people had about ’s high-tech specs, recent reports suggest that a consumer launch is nowhere in sight. A possible pivot toward enterprise uses may help salvage the project, but it’s hardly looking like the revolution that Sergey Brin his X labmates had in mind.

‘s $35 TV dongle had its share of naysayers when it launched last year, but it’s clear now that Chromecast is a huge hit. A recent survey by rks Associates found that Chromecast overtook Apple TV in U.S. sales, moving into second place behind Roku. also continued to build on Chromecast’s app library this year, with major additions such as M.TV, tchES, Showtime Anytime, Comedy Central. This isn’t rocket science, folks; Chromecast is a smart idea, executed well, at a price that no other media streamer has been able to beat.

Earlier this year, a slew of rumors suggested that was working on a white glove service for high-end Android phones. Dubbed “Android Silver,” the plan was to offer fast upgrades minimal bloatware on multiple phones from major wireless carriers. Ultimately, Silver may have replaced the Nexus program helped bring pure Android to the mainstream. But according to The Information, this plan fell apart after receiving little interest from carriers phone makers, followed by the departure of Business Officer Nikesh Arora. ng live the Nexus 6, then?

Copying jumbled letters into a web form stopped being an effective anti-spam measure years ago, as machines became better at the task than most people. Fortunately, is putting an end to the cruel joke. Its latest “No Captcha ReCaptcha” requires only the click of a button, as it picks up on subtle cursor movements to figure out who’s human.

was once a major proponent of net neutrality, pushing the idea that Internet service providers shouldn’t be allowed to discriminate against certain types of traffic. That was before forged a pact with Verizon in 2010 essentially flip-flopped. th net neutrality becoming a hot topic again, had a chance to make things right. Instead, it has maintained a healthy distance, refusing to discuss its views with any substance. That’s a letdown regardless of which side of the debate you l on.

ile Oculus Samsung charge hundreds of dollars for their respective virtual reality headsets, proved that you can make compelling VR out of nothing but a pair of lenses some cardboard. st follow the online instructions (or order a cheap construction kit), download the Cardboard Android app, enjoy some neat demos. Even if Cardboard never matures beyond its current state, it’s a welcome throwback to a time when liked to have fun.

It seemed like was this close to locking up its Internet video dominance with a billion-dollar acquisition of Twitch, a hugely-popular live video service focused on gaming. But while numerous publications claimed the deal was done, a last-minute arrangement with Amazon left empty-hed. The good news for consumers (which, in turn, is bad news for ) is that Twitch now represents the closest thing to a competitive threat that YouTube has seen in years.

Voice users had been understably on edge since last year, as the call management service had been sorely lacking in major updates. Fortunately, 2014 brought substantive improvements, including MMS support integration of many Voice features in ’s slick new Hangouts app. ile is known for putting niche services on the chopping block, longtime Voice users should be able to rest easier now.

’s social network isn’t technically dead, but all signs point to de-emphasizing its social network after the departure of Vic Gundotra in April. ’s I/O conference came went without any major + news, users may now create Gmail accounts without a matory + page. An unconfirmed report by TechCrunch also claimed that killed a policy that required new products to have some + element. ile the single sign-in aspect of + remains a success, the social networking angle is a failure—even according to one of its former engineers.

For lots of people, Drive its Docs/Sheets/Slides suite have become a suitable replacement for Microsoft Office—until it’s time to deal with someone else’s Office documents. This year, updated its apps added a Chrome extension to allow direct editing of Office documents, added one-click document conversion from Gmail. There may still be other reasons to choose Office, but document formatting doesn’t have to be one of them anymore.

It’s been more than a year since fessed up to plans for “interactive spaces” on a pair of floating barges in s Angeles rtl, Ore. But now those plans seem to be adrift. dismantled the rtl barge in August amid fire safety concerns, while the s Angeles barge shipped up to Stockton, Calif., near San Francisco, where it can “have a break” according to . Strangely, Stockton’s tourism website has a page about the incomplete barge, but notes that it’s off-limits to the public is best-viewed from a nearby peninsula.

ile Steve bs made no secret of his disdain for Android, even likened Apple’s patent battle to a “holy war” in company e-mails, Cook seems more willing to let the patent spats slide under the bridge. Apple settled with ‘s Motorola in May, settled all non-U.S. disputes with Samsung in August. also settled with Rockstar, a consortium that includes Apple, Blackberry Microsoft, for a bundle of patents last month. Maybe now, everyone can get back to competing.

though doesn’t want to be in charge of erasing the past, that’s exactly what it must do according to Europe’s “right to be forgotten” rules enacted this year. The issue is a knotty one; crime victims people who made stupid mistakes arguably deserve a second shot at web anonymity, but the rule also threatens press freedom gives public figures a way to hide unsavory truths. Either way, it’s ‘s mess now, as the search giant must figure out how to reasonably maintain a memory hole for the Internet.