Google Reader

Associated With

Google Reader team - creator or operator, brand

Defining Feature

A Google-hosted platform for reading and organising RSS feeds

Status

Discontinued - Retired on 1 July 2013

Overview

Google Reader launched in October 2005 as one place to follow website updates through RSS feeds.

Users could subscribe to sites, scan new entries and organise their reading without visiting each page separately. The service began as a beta-level Google Labs project using Google’s BigTable system.

The Reader team reported hundreds of thousands of accounts after the service’s first two weeks. Google announced its retirement in March 2013, set 1 July 2013 as the closure date and directed users to Google Takeout for exports.

Why It Mattered

Reader gave users one place to manage updates from blogs and independent sites. Its 2013 closure illustrated the risk of building personal reading routines around a free platform that its owner could discontinue.

Google Labs Launch

• The Reader team described the service as a beta-level Google Labs project.
• It reported account numbers in the hundreds of thousands after its first two weeks.

Feed Infrastructure

• Reader used Google’s BigTable system to store and manage feed items.
• The team planned additional interfaces, recommendations and performance improvements.

Retirement and Data Export

• Google announced the retirement on 13 March 2013 with a closure date of 1 July.
• Users were directed to Google Takeout to retain subscriptions and other Reader data.

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