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I'll take the blame for this. I use Google Reader heavily, but I never go to the web pages. I have native apps on my desktop and mobile devices and just use Re

by jws 14y ago

I'll take the blame for this. I use Google Reader heavily, but I never go to the web pages. I have native apps on my desktop and mobile devices and just use Reader to keep my subscriptions synced. No ad views, no service.

rbrcurtis 14y ago
If it was an issue of ad views all they'd have to do is add an ad bar at the top ala gmail.
- saurik 14y ago
  I think at that point, content creators being aggregated by Google--who are already have a fairly stressful relationship with Google--might accumulate too much ammunition to use against them (as then Google would be directly profiting from aggregating and redistributing content from third-parties in a modified presentation).
Samuel_Michon 14y ago
If that was a problem, they should've offered paid subscriptions. I refuse to see ads, but I'll happily pay for the privilege. I find the Google Reader web interface to be dreadful and ugly, so I never go there except to manage my RSS feeds. Third party devs have created newsreader apps so much better than Google did, it's not even funny.
- pohl 14y ago
  If that was a problem, they should've offered paid subscriptions. Yeah, but they don't want us as customers, they want to sell us as Soylent Green out the back door. With this news, the only remaining things I'll use Google for are search, GMail, and some libraries like Guice & Guava.
  - tracker1 14y ago
    That's more than me.. without iGoogle and Reader, I don't see much use in them for search now.
ajross 14y ago
Indeed. I regularly use it via the Press app on Android, and visit the actual site only to manage the subscriptions. The service itself at that level is comparatively straightforward. Hopefully someone (twentyfivesquares?) will step up and offer a replacement. I'd be willing to pay.
SeppoErviala 14y ago
I have plenty of feeds that include ads. Reader shows all images and links that are part of the feed body so not going to the site should not be a problem. If an ad supported feed provider fails to add ads to their feed they just do not understand the medium. One of the core ideas in RSS is to avoid visiting all the subscribed sites!
RockyMcNuts 14y ago
They still get a lot of data exhaust. They could compete with a solid mobile app / desktop app and monetize that. Lots of ways to leverage it against Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn. All those services are building freaking news aggregators, and Google is killing theirs which is maybe the best and most useful? It seems really lame and evil.
hhhhhhhhh 14y ago
same. is there any alternative for us?

by jws 14y ago

rbrcurtis 14y ago

If it was an issue of ad views all they'd have to do is add an ad bar at the top ala gmail.

saurik 14y ago
I think at that point, content creators being aggregated by Google--who are already have a fairly stressful relationship with Google--might accumulate too much ammunition to use against them (as then Google would be directly profiting from aggregating and redistributing content from third-parties in a modified presentation).

Samuel_Michon 14y ago

If that was a problem, they should've offered paid subscriptions. I refuse to see ads, but I'll happily pay for the privilege. I find the Google Reader web interface to be dreadful and ugly, so I never go there except to manage my RSS feeds. Third party devs have created newsreader apps so much better than Google did, it's not even funny.

pohl 14y ago
If that was a problem, they should've offered paid subscriptions. Yeah, but they don't want us as customers, they want to sell us as Soylent Green out the back door. With this news, the only remaining things I'll use Google for are search, GMail, and some libraries like Guice & Guava.
- tracker1 14y ago
  That's more than me.. without iGoogle and Reader, I don't see much use in them for search now.

ajross 14y ago

Indeed. I regularly use it via the Press app on Android, and visit the actual site only to manage the subscriptions. The service itself at that level is comparatively straightforward. Hopefully someone (twentyfivesquares?) will step up and offer a replacement. I'd be willing to pay.

SeppoErviala 14y ago

I have plenty of feeds that include ads. Reader shows all images and links that are part of the feed body so not going to the site should not be a problem. If an ad supported feed provider fails to add ads to their feed they just do not understand the medium. One of the core ideas in RSS is to avoid visiting all the subscribed sites!

RockyMcNuts 14y ago

They still get a lot of data exhaust. They could compete with a solid mobile app / desktop app and monetize that. Lots of ways to leverage it against Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn. All those services are building freaking news aggregators, and Google is killing theirs which is maybe the best and most useful? It seems really lame and evil.

hhhhhhhhh 14y ago

same. is there any alternative for us?