Google Reader retirement sparks online protests
Google’s decision to discontinue its Google Reader RSS feed aggregator has sparked an online petition and protest site geared toward forcing the search giant to think again.
The service, which allows subscribers to track updates to their favourite sites, is set to be taken offline on 1 July in the wake of declining user numbers as Google carries out a ‘spring clean’ of its products.
In a blogpost Google’s vice president of technical infrastructure said: “Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months."
The service was keenly used by journalists but others are increasingly turning to the likes of Twitter and Flipboard for their news fix.
In response a bevvy of online petitions and protest sites have sprung up, notably savegooglereader.org site and a Change.org petition which has attracted 15,000 signatories.