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Where I have RSS feeds from news sites, I usually skim down the list of titles, read an article (in my feed) if it's interesting, and then move on. I never visi

by entuno 2y ago

Where I have RSS feeds from news sites, I usually skim down the list of titles, read an article (in my feed) if it's interesting, and then move on. I never visit their website, I don't see their adverts, their tracking scripts can't run, and I don't see or interact with their comments. Which is great for me as the end user - but makes it much harder for them to monetise.

saint_yossarian 2y ago
Nobody's forcing them to put the full text into the feed, for me the main benefit is not having to check the site manually.
- entuno 2y ago
  As the consumer, that's a big benefit, and the main reason I use RSS. But for the company running the website, the fact that you're no longer browsing to their site, being served adverts and tracking code, and seeing what's on their homepage is not a benefit
oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
> makes it much harder for them to monetise. On the other hand, RSS definitely provides extra opportunities to monitise. Imagine your business provides a customisable "offers" feed so you can tell interested parties when a sale occurs, etc. Businesses should be falling over themselves to get that kind of engagement.
- entuno 2y ago
  That just sounds like a mailing list, but without the ability to easily identify and track the individuals you're sending to.
  - oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
    So... a win-win? RSS also avoids all the problems associated with spam.
openrisk 2y ago
Not everyone is out to monetise (e.g public sector). And even if you are after monetisation, sending out a teaser snippet makes sense. The user can decide if they want to visit the site to read more, subscribe etc.
galleywest200 2y ago
Le Monde will tell you that you only got 70% or so of the article in your feed and you need to go to the site to get the full article. Why don't more feeds do that? Actually, I am unsure if this is the feed itself or the fact that my RSS reader scrapes the sites too. Some sites even have different RSS links for subscribers only that give a full feed.

by entuno 2y ago

saint_yossarian 2y ago

Nobody's forcing them to put the full text into the feed, for me the main benefit is not having to check the site manually.

entuno 2y ago
As the consumer, that's a big benefit, and the main reason I use RSS. But for the company running the website, the fact that you're no longer browsing to their site, being served adverts and tracking code, and seeing what's on their homepage is not a benefit

oneeyedpigeon 2y ago

> makes it much harder for them to monetise. On the other hand, RSS definitely provides extra opportunities to monitise. Imagine your business provides a customisable "offers" feed so you can tell interested parties when a sale occurs, etc. Businesses should be falling over themselves to get that kind of engagement.

entuno 2y ago
That just sounds like a mailing list, but without the ability to easily identify and track the individuals you're sending to.
- oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
  So... a win-win? RSS also avoids all the problems associated with spam.

openrisk 2y ago

Not everyone is out to monetise (e.g public sector). And even if you are after monetisation, sending out a teaser snippet makes sense. The user can decide if they want to visit the site to read more, subscribe etc.

galleywest200 2y ago

Le Monde will tell you that you only got 70% or so of the article in your feed and you need to go to the site to get the full article. Why don't more feeds do that? Actually, I am unsure if this is the feed itself or the fact that my RSS reader scrapes the sites too. Some sites even have different RSS links for subscribers only that give a full feed.