Google announced that it is making its annual spring cleaning. On its official blog, the company shared that it will shut down a number of its services and applications which are declining in popularity. Among them are Google Cloud Connect, Apps Script, Google Building Maker, Google Voice App for Blackberry, Search API for Shopping and others. Unfortunately for many news junkies, the giant will also discontinue Google Reader.
According to Google, the service has become less popular among users. As a result, the company chooses to shut it down and focus on other applications and services which are enjoying more consumer love. In addition, the search engine giant informs that Google Reader users will have the chance to export their data to other RSS platforms. For that purpose they will only need to use Google Takeout. However, that should happen before July 1, 2013, when Google Reader will officially stop working.
The end of Google Reader is unpleasant for many, yet it was expected. The service was launched back in 2005 and it became extremely popular over the years. Nevertheless, with the rise of social networks came the fall of RSS readers. Social websites like Twitter and Facebook offered more features and functions than RSS platforms including instant news access. Although Google tried to integrate some new options in its reader platform, like follows, shares and friends, it still lacked the entertainment factor seen in social networks.
Later in 2011, the search engine giant decided to introduce its own social site – Google+. Quickly after that it took away many of the social features of Google Reader and started focusing more on its new and more promising project. That became evident from the various bugs that Google Reader users experienced over the last months. Moreover, despite their complaints, the company did not show much interest into fixing them.
Google Reader started about 8 years ago as part of Google Labs. It attracted users with its innovative features and in only two-year period it managed to grow to such an extent that it was soon announced as a product separate from Google Labs. Still, it could not maintain a steady users’ base and started to decline.
Google Reader users quickly took social networks to share their disappointment with the news. After the shutdown of the Google’s service, other RSS readers will probably experience a rise as user will try to find an alternative to Google Readers. Among them are Feedly, Pulse, The Old Reader and Flipboard. However, their future does not seem bright either. RSS readers are generally falling on the web service rankings. Although they will not disappear any time soon, they will definitely undergo some trials and tribulations if they don’t offer something new to internet consumers.
