So it was announced yesterday that Google will end operations of Google Reader in July of this year. For those, like me, who utilize Google Reader to keep up with your favorite blogs this seems like an unwelcome move by Google. Sure there are plenty of articles floating around on alternatives to Reader but I have another option for Google that may help it save face. Integrate the functionality of Google Reader into Google Plus.
Both stream user content, one from those you follow directly on Google plus and one from the blogs you like to follow. So why not meld the two under the same umbrella? Posts from blogs may look a bit different as commenting would be disabled directly on Google Plus (unless a blog owner chose to integrate the functionality)
Benefits to Readers
- One stop location for those using Google Plus to also be kept up to date on their favorite blog posts.
- Ease of sharing posts via Google Plus
- No lose of a Google based reader of favorite blogs.
Benefits to Blog Owners
- Potential increased eyeballs on your work as sharing to G+ becomes easier.
- Potential minimizing sharing your work without attribution. Since a reader would just be sharing the link to your work they may be less inclined to save it to their desktop and then reshare it on social media without attribution. Especially useful to artists and photographers.
CAVEAT: Currently Google Plus (especially on mobile) is horrible about placemarking where you are in your stream. So many times when you click on a link that takes you to a blog and then come back to Google Plus, you must start all over at the top of your screen. Having the ability to bookmark or check off read items is necessary to make this option worthwhile.
Other options Google can take?
Thought it was some kind of a joke when I read about this on digg.com this morning, Then was dumbfounded when i opened up my google reader only to have the news confirmed
Was only a week or two ago that Google trumpeted a new Grid view for reader feeds, which I tried and now use as standard.
Why introduce new features days before announcing the demise of a product? Sounds very much like the left hand at Google not knowing what the right hand was doing!
[A contributor to Madhatters has pointed me in the direction of feedly.com which looks like a worthwhile replacement to Google reader so I’m giving that a trial now. You might want to check it out]
Why Google should decide to drop Reader is beyond my understanding. The howls of protests from bloggers and journalists who use it is testament surely to how useful it was – as to is the speed with which rival RSS readers are moving to snap up those folk left abandoned by Google’s decision to ditch Reader. If Google had a master plan to move folk off Reader and on to Google+, then they should have coupled the announcement of the demise of Reader with news of an improved service that incorporated Google+. They didn’t, and so I don;t think they any plans to integrate reader into Google +. If they do have such a plan then they have ballsed it up. Announcing the death of Reader without offering anything to replace it means that folk will now seek alternatives to Reader and if Google comes along at a later date with some super-duper new Reader/Google+ thing, it will be too late. Once folk have found an alternative to Reader, they will be less inclined to make another change a few months down the line
Problem with feedly is that it specific to a browser. So you would have to download it to all browsers
I need cloud based options that allow you to be desktop or mobile
don’t understand your comment
why would you use a different browser on different devices?
I use google chrome browser on my windows desktop, laptop, macbook, nexus 7 tablet, and android phone.
I’ve downloaded feedly to them all and it works beautifully. It syncs with my google reader and across all my devices
I add a blog to feedly using my phone and it is available when I switch to my macbook or any of my other devices !
At work our default is explorer. At home I have chrome and on my phone and iPad I have safari
And here I was thinking that this had something to do with the new pope. 😉
But seriously, I never took the time to learn how to use my Google reader. I track you down the old fashioned way…Google search.
Google it? I made my URL so easy to remember too
Yeah. I have no clue. There’s only so much tech stuff I hear about under my rock.
🙂
You need rock 2.0
I’m still running primordial-ooze.
They have a cream for that.
I’m not on Google+ either. I do use Google Reader though. I’ll hate it when it’s gone. Bugger.
Have a terrific day. 🙂
find me a good option
About part for the course. From what I’ve heard, they plan on getting rid of the Google Friends connect/follower widget as well.
What good does the friend connect thing do? I must have missed that part…
I won’t miss that because I don’t use it haha
I didn’t use it. I tried for a while, but then I found I could get most of my content delivered to my email. For those I couldn’t, I just set up feed modules on a local webpage so I could find them that way. Sending it to G+ would be cool though. We should start a “beartition” and see how many signatures we can get. Who knows, Google might take us seriously.
MJ
I +1d it as a feature request.
Problem with email is that I am constantly clicking. I like having it all in one place
I don’t like all those emails, WP have a fetish for them so I turn the settings off and visit everyone at random 🙂 How do you mean so that’s why I never visit much? Well there’s a thing 🙂 lol Okay I will make a point of bugging you more often so how about that for progress? 🙂 lol
Have fun today Bearman and for what it is
worth I think that your idea makes perfect
sense 🙂 Now all we need to do is Gooogle
it to the head honchos and it might be the
next best thing to Spambo Wambo Burgers 🙂
I’m still not really “into” G+ that much, nor Facebook. I used to use Google Reader for a long time then I discovered Mozilla Thunderbird to manage my various email accounts. Thunderbird has a built in RSS Reader as well, so I use that to manage all my email & feeds all in one place. Out of the various web based readers I’d tried I thought Google Reader was the best of the bunch. I guess integration with G+ will be a convenience for those who use both services.
I hate being tied to a single browser because I use several depending where I am
That is a good idea.It seems just as we really start using things it gets changed. leave it to the people of Google and Facebook and other companies to take away what we love and have it replaced with something new and shiny and yes probably sub par, but totally track-able.
And leave it to us to complain about something free
Er, am I the only one that’s wondering where Bearman has got to ?
Put’s up this post – then isn’t around to reply to comments???
I’m on feckin vacation. You are lucky I was around enough to drop this wisdom on you
I usually check in with my blogging friends once or twice a week, depending on their blogging schedule by just typing in their address.
Do you know if this effects Feedburner? Google owns this as well.
I think I read feed burner was already dead
Take a look at http://goodnoows.com/ maybe it works better than feedly. 8)
Thx p
I have no idea what all this means. I just have about 100 sites in my favorites and I click on them. If someone new comments on my site I visit theirs. WordPress does keep me updated on the wordpress sites I comment on.
If your system works…keep it going.
🙁
😛