Google says on its official blog that it made a mistake in the way it shut down its Google Video service:

We’re giving a full refund — as a credit card refund — to everyone who ever bought a video. We’ll need you to make sure we have your most recent credit card information, but once we know where to send the money, you’ll get it.

(Via Wired News, whose story is here.) The issue is that, online, you can buy something that you don’t actually possess or, as is the case here, buy something that can be used only through a proprietary program that can be, as was the case here, unilaterally shut down. Other companies won’t be as straightforward as Google, notwithstanding the glitch. On the other hand, a generation has now grown up buying all sorts of things for their cell phones, from ringtones to games, will disappear the same way when they change services or in some cases even phones.

Fans of newspeak will note, however the hed on the Google blog item: “An update on Google Video feedback.” It reminded me of this recent quote, on Romenesko, from the publisher of the Chicago Tribune when the paper shrank the size of its newsprint:

“This minor change in our page dimensions will allow the newspaper to more effectively serve our customers with our award-winning journalism and an enhanced advertising environment.”

Both turns of phrase seem applicable in a variety of situations. When Michael Vick goes in to plead guilty to dogfighting today, he can say, “You’re honor, I have an update.” And the next time I rob a bank, I’m going to say. “I’m here to more effectively serve you.”