Yes. This was Google Buzz. The technology behind it was truly great (Salmon, Pubsubhubbub, and friends). It was federated. Everyone took a dump on it every chance they got, despite it being a technically very sound solution to the problem. There's no reason they can't layer in federation now, but it's clear Google is focusing on making the user experience great first because without users, it doesn't matter whether you are federated and open.