Google brings Google Reader to a halt.

As someone who has been working at PopFi since 2008, I depend on a whole bunch of blogs to keep me up to date on what’s cool, what’s weird, what’s fun, what’s the latest tech, etc.  At the moment, I probably subscribe to 200 blogs and RSS feeds covering just about any possible topic, and that’s after I pared down some of the least-interesting sources.  To keep them managed, I use Google Reader, one of the easiest-to-use and easiest-to-browse RSS readers out there.  Well, I did use Google Reader.  Google will be shutting down Google Reader on July 1, 2013.

“We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites.  While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined.  So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader.  Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months,” said a Google blog post about the “spring cleaning”.

Google Reader is actually the centerpiece of some of the tech world’s biggest success stories.  Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was the person to give Google Reader the go-ahead to launch as part of Google Labs.  When it became a stand-alone product, the blog post announcing its launch was written by Kevin Systrom, who would go on to start Instagram.  And now, the service is coming to an end, a victim of declining user numbers and Google’s urge to cut ties and force more people to use Google Plus.

Tags: google, google reader, google rss reader, google rss, google takeout, google ending google reader service, google reader ending, google closing google reader, google reader to be ended, google reader information can be exported via google takeout, google reader alternatives, google takeout to back up google reader information, rss readers, feed readers, google products, google reader shutting down july 1, google labs

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