Google Reader RSS Aggregator To Be Retired Due To Declined Usage
Google is shutting down its Google Reader service due to a declining number of users – and fans of the service have been given three months to find an alternative.
Google Reader, which was launched in 2005, is a content aggregator of web feeds, meaning users can go to just one place to view content from their favourite sites.
But the company said Google Reader would be retired on July 1 due to a dwindling number of users.
[pullquote_left] “There are two simple reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we are pouring all of our energy into fewer products,” Google said in its official blog. [/pullquote_left]
Despite a near-obsessive following among journalists – who have few options as comprehensive as RSS feeds from news sites – updates through Twitter, Flipboard and other networks have largely replaced it.
Since the announcement on Wednesday night, a petition on Change.org has already amassed more than 15,000 signatures. User Daniel Lewis started the petition because he says that despite using it less, he still relies on it several times a week.
At least one dedicated website has been set up asking Google to reconsider.
Bringgooglereaderback.com opens with “Dear Google” then displays an animation of Mad Men actress and Comic Con favourite Alison Brie looking at first shocked, then upset on apparently hearing the news.
The website then displays the words: “You should bring back Google Reader.”
In addition to killing off Reader, from next week Google is ending support for the Google Voice app for BlackBerrys, instead pointing users toward the HTML5 webapp.
