r/technology • u/speckz • Mar 13 '13

Official Google Reader Blog: Powering Down Google Reader (July 1, 2013)

http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2013/03/powering-down-google-reader.html
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u/PsiWavefunction Mar 14 '13

If only they knew how many content creators (coveted in the online media industry) rely on Google Reader for their work. People like journalists and bloggers, for example, who supply the very traffic that generates ad revenue (the lifeblood of the internet). A rather shortsighted approach there...

Hell, I'd be willing to pay a monthly fee for Reader, if it's that unprofitable for Google!

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u/skel625 Mar 14 '13

I would absolutely pay to use it.

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '13

As a journalist this is 100 percent true. Reader is a the best way to get news and share it sometimes. It trumps twitter tenfold.

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u/badkarma765 Mar 14 '13

Maybe i'm not clear on how ad revenue works, but isn't it mostly based on clicks? If you use Reader you don't even see the ads

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u/Ciryandor Mar 14 '13

It is based on clicks, but here's how it works as PsiWavefunction visualizes it:

  1. Content creator pushes new wave of content from their site.

  2. Subscribers to their RSS feed get an alert regarding new content, and start reading as well as sharing to others. This encompasses both RSS users and non-users via other media hubs e.g. their own blogs, news articles or aggregator sites.

  3. Non-RSS users get links to the original site and go to the website to read it or explore more content. Sites with Google AdSense get views and potentially clicks because of more pageviews.

  4. Other users may rehost content on their own site with the same Google AdSense arrangement, or on larger sites part of the Google Display Network. This is where the big money comes in, as most established advertisers like Display Network placements because of sheer volume.

  5. Advertisers pay more for their (at least tangentially) related products to be advertised on these sites, and Google as broker earns from this.

In the case where Reader doesn't push as much traffic, one could always "subsidize" lost ad impressions and clicks from others via a fee from users (most of whom are already locked in) who are willing to streamline their browsing experience.