AOL Reader hands-on: An unexciting but solid Google Reader replacement to rival Feedly
We knew AOL was planning its own replacement to the soon-expiring Google Reader, and now we're able to share a complete look at the upcoming service. — Pitching with the slogan “all your favorite websites …
Context & Ripple Effects
AOL had already pursued a broader news strategy with its 2007 news relaunch, while Google Reader had long served as a recognizable RSS-reading product. Google Reader’s impending closure has created a concentrated search for replacements: more than 500,000 users moved to Feedly within two days of the shutdown announcement.
Feedly strengthened its position days earlier with its own Cloud backend, replacing its dependence on Google Reader’s infrastructure. AOL Reader therefore enters a market where the contest is no longer just interface design, but who can provide a durable independent service.
First-order effects
- AOL gains a direct entry point to users leaving Google Reader, while Feedly faces another named alternative for the same migration pool.
- Feedly’s Cloud launch means AOL Reader is competing against a service that has already replaced the underlying Google Reader dependency, not merely against another RSS interface.
Second-order effects
- RSS users and publishers gain more than one destination for subscriptions, reducing Feedly’s ability to be the default landing place for departing Google Reader users.
- AOL must distinguish Reader through product execution and service reliability, because Feedly has already established an independent backend and attracted a large early migration.
Third-order effects
- If independent backends become the baseline, RSS reading shifts from a market organized around Google Reader’s shared infrastructure to one organized around competing standalone services.
- The Google Reader shutdown is pushing RSS providers to own both the user experience and the service layer, making continuity of subscriptions a competitive asset.
The trend: Google Reader’s closure is fragmenting RSS reading into competing independent platforms, with backend ownership becoming as important as the reader interface.