Perhaps more than in any other year in its 12-year existence, Google has seen its share of ups and downs in 2010. The search engine’s Android mobile operating system blasted off with a vengeance, challenging Apple’s iOS for the No. 2 smartphone position in the United States. The company launched a number of new search features that have been impressive, including its Google Instant predictive search technology. Google’s Places local search effort has turned into a formidable offering to help connect local businesses with consumers patrolling their neighborhoods with mobile phones. You can view some of those Web services in this eWEEK slide show. But Google also endured, abetted and occasionally created, some real clunkers. This slide show takes readers on this stroll through some of Google’s gaffes, bizarre occurrences and even some less-than-stellar product launches of the closing year. We start with privacy issues and move into some of the poor products. We can’t help but wonder what Google will do in 2011 to mitigate some of the persistent issues and improve some of the weaker products. – …