Google is testing a “Follow” button in Chrome for sites that support RSS, with content appearing in the New Tab page, initially with Chrome Canary users
2005 is back! @ianvisits : Google attempting to resurrect the RSS feeds it nearly managed to kill off when it shut-down Google Reader. https://9to5google.com/... Richard MacManus / @ricmac : Well, it's better than piling up unread email newsletters in your inbox... feels like we'll eventually reincarnate RSS Readers as a trendy product category (I still use Feedly). Maybe more integrated into browser. -> “more or less brings an RSS reader to the New Tab page.” https://twitter.com/... See also Mediagazer
9to5GoogleAbner Li
Context & Ripple Effects
Google had already been building news and reading surfaces around its accounts and products, from the redesigned Google News “For You” briefing to Chrome’s earlier reading-mode work. The Canary test moves that effort toward a browser-native subscription surface built on site RSS feeds rather than a standalone reader.
The test also establishes the first step in a rollout that later made Chrome Follow available to Android users, making the experiment consequential for publishers and RSS-reader incumbents rather than a one-off Canary feature.
First-order effects
Chrome Canary users can subscribe to RSS-enabled sites and receive their updates in the New Tab page, giving Chrome a built-in alternative to opening a separate feed reader.
Publishers with functioning RSS feeds gain a direct route into Chrome’s follow surface, while Feedly faces a new distribution competitor embedded in the browser.
Second-order effects
Google can use the New Tab page to make following sites part of routine browsing, raising the value of maintaining RSS feeds for publishers that want repeat readership.
Standalone readers such as Feedly must differentiate on organization and reading workflows as Chrome takes on basic discovery and update delivery.
Third-order effects
If browser-integrated following expands beyond Canary, RSS can shift from a specialist-reader format to browser infrastructure, concentrating the audience entry point with Chrome.
The pattern extends Google’s effort to combine news discovery, reading, and subscriptions across its products, alongside Google News’ personalized briefing and Subscribe with Google.
The trend: Browsers are becoming content-following and reading surfaces, absorbing functions once handled by standalone RSS readers and news apps.
Miss Google Reader? Chrome is experimenting with a native “Follow” feature for sites with an RSS feed. Surfacing them in the New Tab Page could help discover new posts (and encourage more sites to invest in a good RSS experience for all RSS readers). https://blog.chromium.org/...…
Google: Let us get rid of RSS and cancel Google Reader to build a social network Google: Failed to build a social network Google: Let us bring back RSS feed support in Chrome {https://blog.chromium.org/...} Firefox: Welp, we have to follow Google now.
@HandNF Right now it's primarily rss, although we will also grab some other things if we are able to find it with the crawler. Email newsletters aren't currently in scope, although places like substack where there is also a web version of the newsletter should work
👀 we're testing out a way to follow websites directly in Chrome. if you follow a site, content shows up on the new tab page as it's published. 🪄 I've been using it myself the last few weeks and am so excited to share publicly! https://blog.chromium.org/... https://twitter.com/...
Google 2013 - over the years [Google RSS Reader] usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire it. https://googleblog.blogspot.com/ ... Google 2021 - Keeping a site's RSS up-to-date will ensure Chrome can provide the latest content to users https://blog.chromium.org/...
July 2013: Google kills Google Reader, an RSS feed aggregator. May 2021: Google announces a new experimental feature for Chrome - an RSS feed aggregator. https://blog.chromium.org/...
Well, it's better than piling up unread email newsletters in your inbox... feels like we'll eventually reincarnate RSS Readers as a trendy product category (I still use Feedly). Maybe more integrated into browser. -> “more or less brings an RSS reader to the New Tab page.” https:…
Ayyy, Readers, it's ya boi back with another banger. If you like this website, be sure to click that follow button and subscribe. https://twitter.com/...
... Sorry Google, but you killed Reader in 2013. I don't really think I'm gonna trust you on a second attempt at doing RSS. https://blog.chromium.org/...
Got an RSS revival, a Mac processor transition, excitement over email newsletters, and lawsuits about walled gardens. Cue up “The Emancipation of Mimi” on your iPod mini and sell your startup to Yahoo — 2005 is back!
“Google revives RSS” https://techcrunch.com/... I have many thoughts on this, from the title to “...even as diehard news junkies kept holding on to their Feedly accounts and old copies of NetNewsWire.”
I hope this leads to an RSS renaissance. Following favorite sites directly is how we undo some of the damage algorithmic feeds like Facebook and Google Discover/Feed have done. https://twitter.com/...
I really wish we'd done this in Firefox about 10 years ago, rather than removing the RSS button entirely. (The button was essentially unused, per telemetry metrics.) I've tinkered with building add-ons to do this off & on since then. https://twitter.com/...
RSS lives! Maybe! Hopefully! (True tech confession: I loved and love RSS.) >> Chrome testing RSS-powered ‘Follow’ button & feed that keeps the Google Reader dream alive https://9to5google.com/... via @technacity
The dream of the Google+ everything feed lives on! But really “Follow in Chrome” is less about Chrome about more turning the Google iOS app into your everything app... where you follow your interests and it pushes content recommendations to you. #NewChrome #NewGoogle https://twit…
@Techmeme @technacity I wonder what would happen to Google if they asked for ideas from people who have a feel for what RSS can do. In this case, I wish they'd turn the result into a dynamic OPML subscription list that the user could point a reader app to. Seriously, I'd help for…
Before launching features, we test them with a small subset of users & make changes based on their feedback. Learn about our upcoming experiment: Follow, a way to simplify getting the latest content from your fav websites & creators directly in #Chrome → https://blog.chromium.org…
This makes sense—as a user, I'd much rather my browser serve up content from sites I frequently visit than the random stuff Pocket generates when I create a new tab. https://twitter.com/...
Really seems like RSS feed availability has been declining on interesting bloggy/news sites in recent years. Will that trend reverse? https://twitter.com/...
imagine where we would have been without that foolish diversion to Google+. Feedburner was acquired by Google 14 years ago and we're just now getting a follow button in Chrome https://twitter.com/...
“Our goal for this feature is to allow people to follow the websites they care about, from the large publishers to the small neighborhood blogs, by tapping a Follow button in Chrome.” https://blog.chromium.org/... https://twitter.com/...