Google has just announced a spring cleaning for eight of its products. The surprising part of this cleanup is that Google Reader is also in the list. Google announced to shutdown Google Reader on 1 July.
“To make the most of these opportunities, we need to focus—otherwise we spread ourselves too thin and lack impact. So today we’re announcing some more closures, bringing the total to 70 features or services closed since our spring cleaning began in 2011,” Google said about this cleanup.
Google reader was launched in 2005 and still it is used by many users. It is hard to believe that Google is planning to kill it. Google has already closed adsense for feedburner. So, it seems that Google’s interest in RSS is declining.
“We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. 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,” Urs Hölzle, SVP Technical Infrastructure said.
Along with Google reader, Google is also planing to kil Google Cloud Connect, Google Building Maker, GUI Builder & five UiApp widgets in App script, search API for shopping, Google Voice App for Blackberry, CalDAV API and Snapseed Desktop for Macintosh and Window.
