On Monday, Microsoft announced that will shut down Microsoft Tag service after three years.
Microsoft Tag launched in 2010 as a colorful alternative to the QR code. Anyone could create a unique 2D barcode which, when scanned using a Microsoft Tag app on an Internet-connected smartphone, could pull up an image, video, website or other web-based asset.
[seealso slug="free-android-apps-every-day"]
Despite landing a number of important media and even fashion partners over the past few years -- most notably Allure, which used the technology to power its annual scan-to-win "Free Stuff" issue -- Microsoft Tag didn't take off.
It failed for the very same reasons that QR codes have failed to gain traction in the United States: Code readers haven't come pre-loaded on major smartphone platforms and users have hardly been incentivized to download them -- most of the time, they send you to a poorly optimized mobile website featuring a branded video or some other form of advertisement. The technology also didn't have much support within Microsoft, employees from its Tag division repeatedly told me over the years.
Microsoft Tag won't be completely defunct going forward. Microsoft is licensing its technology to QR code provider Scanbuy, which has agreed to support the technology on its ScanLife platform beginning no later than Sept. 18 of this year.