At least from my perspective, the problem is that Google sometimes releases into already-existing fields at a price point no one can compete with, absorbs the entire market, then pivots away. This is pretty destructive behavior, and I think fundamentally different from entering a field in which you intend to try to run a business (as opposed to subsidizing your entry into the field with profits from elsewhere in the company in order to undercut current players).
Except in this case they didn't absorb the market and then pivot away. The market moved away from them and consequently they shut down a service that nobody really uses anymore.
Sorry, should have made it more clear that I wasn't talking about Google Code specifically, but was responding to the parent comment regarding "release and pivot".
