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Google Reader was a free product, subsidized by google ads.
by amadeuspagel 4y ago
Google Reader was a free product, subsidized by google ads.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- tomrod 4y agoGoogle Reader was a service that brought in good will, subsidized by people trusting Google to "not be evil" and provide useful services. This subsequently turned into people using Google's money-making products, like ads. At least to most I've spoken with on the subject (a few dozen, so informal straw poll), killing Google Reader turned people's opinion of Google from scrappy startup to untrustworthy behemoth.
- kcplate 4y ago> At least to most I've spoken with on the subject (a few dozen, so informal straw poll), killing Google Reader turned people's opinion of Google from scrappy startup to untrustworthy behemoth. You can add me to that informal poll. I moved to Feedly, but Google Reader was my go to for a whole lot of years. My opinion of Google changed the day they announced its demise. I am probably an outlier but the only way I want to consume content on the web is via RSS feeds. Allows me to curate what I see and if subscribed sites start delivering me poor content, I drop them from the feed list.
- tomrod 4y ago+1
- incanus77 4y agoRight, but it was an early step in Google’s now-classic playbook of undercutting existing paid solutions by subsidizing a free, shiny alternative, driving the paid versions out of business, then either turning their product into a surveillance nightmare or shutting it down.
- jdgoesmarching 4y agoSo is Mail, Maps, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Youtube, etc. What’s your point?