Google employs thousands of researchers who would be less productive (and upset) if they scrapped it. That alone is probably enough to make it worthwhile to keep it going, at least until a good alternative emerges.
Given that they have killed products with millions of users, including a lot of paying users, relying on this is optimistic. Google doesn't seem to care about major inconvenience they cause, like with the Google Domains sale Squarespace.
