Feedly Cloud Goes Live To Replace Google Reader's Backend, Power New Web Version Of Feedly's App
In ten days, Google's RSS feed-reading service Google Reader will shut down for good. In its wake, developers working on products in the RSS ecosystem have been stepping up to deliver apps, tools and other services to fill the void.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google Reader helped establish a feed-reader and API layer in 2005, while Google's later withdrawal from adjacent feed monetization services had already raised questions about its commitment to the ecosystem. Its shutdown announcement sent more than 500,000 users to Feedly in two days, giving Feedly an unusually immediate audience before the replacement infrastructure was ready.
Feedly Cloud turns that influx into an owned backend and web product rather than a client dependent on Google Reader. The move matters because RSS users and developers need continuity as Google's service reaches its scheduled end.
First-order effects
- Feedly users gain a replacement backend and a web version of the app before Google Reader closes, reducing the immediate risk of losing their reading workflow.
- Feedly takes responsibility for the infrastructure that Google Reader had supplied, making its service the operating layer for its expanding user base.
Second-order effects
- RSS developers and app makers seeking continuity must evaluate Feedly Cloud or build alternative backend support instead of relying on Google Reader's service.
- Google Reader's exit shifts competition among feed products from client design toward the reliability and capabilities of the backend that stores and serves subscriptions.
Third-order effects
- If independent providers can retain the users migrating from Google Reader, RSS distribution becomes less dependent on a single platform owner's free infrastructure.
- The episode points toward a digital-library migration pattern in which users' subscriptions and reading histories become a competitive asset for replacement services.
The trend: Google Reader's shutdown is accelerating the shift of RSS from Google-operated infrastructure to independent services that own the user relationship and backend.