Google Reader made quite a lot of sense for Google but they castrated the service so far that it became a standalone product with no relevant connection to rema

Google Reader made quite a lot of sense for Google but they castrated the service so far that it became a standalone product with no relevant connection to remaining Google environment. So, I agree, after all those bad decisions it would have been very difficult to make Google Reader a relevant revenue source. However, long-term support of such a core service is part of Google's reputation, it was even so important to the users Google could at least have been able to cover the costs.