When Ping from Apple officially arrived, it was aimed to be a music-focused social network; however, plans didn't go per Apple's wishes and the whole project ultimately turned out to be a failure. Now, per reports, Apple has finally shut down Ping for good and bears testimony as to how the company has struggled  with Internet-based services.

Ping, Apple's iTunes-based social network was first announced at the company's annual fall music event in 2010. However, it completely failed to gain momentum among users, and now Apple has decided to officially disband Ping after it was removed from the current version of iTunes.

A host of reasons can be highlighted here as to why Ping couldn't make it big. Of them, the biggest is probably the failure to introduce Facebook integration when the service launched in 2010. At the time of the launch, it was said that Apple was "forced" to pull Facebook from the service at the last minute and, therefore, ended up leaving out the key component out of any social networking venture.

Apple's decision did not bode well as without the backing of the world's largest social network, the service never managed to achieve the promised number. Ping was offered a spot of limelight only post launch, with Apple stating that the new service had the potential of boasting one million sign-ups in 24 hours. However, the potential was not exercised and was resigned to being an estimation.

Additionally, the service only highlighted Apple's problematic history as far as getting people to use the company's web-based services were concerned. Of course, iTunes, if brought into the discussion, remains a notable exception.

Ping allowed iTunes users to discover new music by being alerted to what their friends were listening to, when and where their newly discovered artists were playing live at gigs, as well as sharing their favorite tracks with one another.

The Ping menu item, per a MacRumors report, no longer appears in the current version of iTunes.

Apple faced a similar fate with the release of MobileMe and even if the service had been working now, it would be a pretty costly venture for users.

Check out Ping's short existence in the video below.