Digg's Google Reader alternative will be called Digg Reader and won't come as a standalone app
Speaking on stage at Internet Week New York, Digg CEO Andrew McLaughlin revealed that his company's upcoming Google Reader replacement will not be a separate app, and will simply be called “Digg Reader.”
Context & Ripple Effects
Digg had already targeted the post-Google Reader audience with a June beta plan after a survey found that more than 40% of respondents would pay for a replacement. It is pursuing that opening from a product base reshaped by its 2012 redesign and editorially curated app.
Rather than creating a separate destination, Digg is making RSS reading part of its existing product strategy. That gives the planned reader a built-in distribution path while tying its appeal to Digg’s broader experience.
First-order effects
- Digg Reader will be delivered without requiring a separate standalone app, making Digg’s existing product surfaces the immediate route to the service.
- People seeking a Google Reader replacement can evaluate Digg’s reader as part of Digg’s broader product rather than as an independent download.
Second-order effects
- Digg’s existing app and site become the acquisition funnel for the reader, so RSS demand can also increase exposure to Digg’s editorially curated experience.
- The June beta will test whether the willingness to pay identified in Digg’s replacement-reader survey translates when the service is bundled into Digg rather than sold as a distinct product.
Third-order effects
- If readers accept RSS as a feature inside broader content products, standalone feed-reader brands face a distribution disadvantage against services with established audiences and apps.
The trend: The Google Reader replacement race is pushing feed reading from a standalone utility toward a feature embedded in broader content-discovery products.