
More than 500,000 Google Reader users have joined Feedly in the past 48 hours - georgeoliver
http://blog.feedly.com/2013/03/15/priorities-keeping-the-site-up-and-adding-new-features/
======
nsns
I believe most users are currently in a "searching" phase, and have joined
more than one alternative, so this sudden growth might be misleadding. That
said, for now, Feedly is my favorite alternative, so good luck.

~~~
TillE
"Misleading" in the sense that only a fraction of those may become loyal
Feedly users, sure.

But it seems like a pretty good estimate of the number of active and aggrieved
Google Reader users out there.

~~~
Confusion
A good lower limit. Not everyone has the time or inclination to take immediate
action. I'm a heavy user of Google Reader and I haven't yet taken an action. I
probably won't for at least a few weeks.

What is baffling is that Google can't or won't monetize a product with that
many users.

~~~
wyclif
>What is baffling is that Google can't or won't monetize a product with that
many users.

Shockingly, nerds that consume media via RSS don't tend to click on ads.

~~~
eurleif
Google Reader didn't have ads. I've seen guesses that Google didn't want to
risk upsetting media producers by displaying ads with their content.

~~~
pavs
There used to be adsense for RSS. Google discontinued it sometime last year I
think.

~~~
mkr-hn
It was completely voluntary and managed by the producer through their AdSense
account.

~~~
pavs
Yeah, But adsense publishers share the money with google. Same way blogger
(blogspot) does.

------
stickhandle
I tried feedly, the old reader, and newsblur. The old reader is nice, but no
mobile :-(. Newsblur is a mess ... i want a reader that gets out of my way.
The only thing it really needs to do is let me organize things my way.
Newsblur has that intelligence nonsense ... i already curated and organized. I
don't need more. Sorry - i don't want to share with others either. It's for
me. The interface has so much going on. I can't understand why HNers like it
so much. Feedly is the (im)perfect choice so far. I wish it had more
organizational settings, especially global. The "today" page is interesting,
but i wish i could exclude some feeds that publish way more than others and
just fill up the screen (sites like Ars Technica where i prefer to see their
list of articles in rss rather than on their site). I expect LOTS more option
to appear in the coming months, but right now, for a web based solution,
Feedly is head and shoulders the best (imo). Their android app is really nice
- takes a bit of getting the handle on, but after a few minutes, it seems like
the absolute right way to do things (nevermind the great integration with
Pocket). Cheers Feedly -- looking forward to an expected innovation run by you
folks and hopefully a pay version.

------
rdl
Feedly seems to be doing the best out of the alternatives for performance in
light of the deluge of Reader refugees (Newsblur, WTF?) -- but it is still
very "sparse" in layout. I haven't figured out a way to get a simple listing
of articles per feed like Reader does, which means it won't work for me.

I want something even more dense than Reader, or at least no worse.
TheOldReader is close, but I would prefer something with iOS clients as well.

TT-RSS is looking like the best option (even though it has no apps), but I
don't really want to have to host a PHP app.

Philosophically I love Feedly (YC company, startup, etc.), but I don't think
they want to make some dense power user tool like a direct Reader replacement.

~~~
mintplant
See: [http://blog.feedly.com/2013/03/14/tips-for-google-reader-
use...](http://blog.feedly.com/2013/03/14/tips-for-google-reader-users-
migrating-to-feedly/) (linked from the post)

Tip #1: "A more condensed view"

~~~
rdl
I mainly meant the iOS app, and the per-story view -- there is a lot of
whitespace. The iOS app doesn't seem to actually accept the more condensed
view as a global default, either, and only sometimes accepts it when I set it
within a given rss feed.

I also dislike the Chrome extension (vs. pure web-only).

OTOH, it is really pretty, so I'm thinking of using it for recreational use
anyway. It's just not an ideal research replacement for google reader yet.

------
pan69
Add to Chrome:

\- Access your data on all websites

\- Access your tabs and browsing activity

Yeah, right. I'm an idiot?

~~~
MatthewPhillips
Also it adds a button to the bottom right of every web page. I immediately
uninstalled when I learned this.

Newsblur has no such shenanigans and is developed by a HNer.

~~~
icelancer
Was very excited to try Newsblur.

It's not free, for those wondering, and free accounts are temporarily
suspended.

Oh well. Time to move on.

~~~
guptaneil
What's wrong with paying for a service that you find useful?

~~~
dmxt
I don't have any method of paying online, well, there is, but it takes too
much of effort doing the paperwork in bank that it's not even worth it. I
don't live in first world country.

~~~
mkr-hn
Install a LAMP/WAMP thing (+ python) and run NewsBlur locally. You could even
make a local edition where people can pay you in person.

------
mkr-hn
FYI: There's 1400+ votes on a feature request for getting rid of the extension
[https://feedly.uservoice.com/forums/192636-suggestions/sugge...](https://feedly.uservoice.com/forums/192636-suggestions/suggestions/3744181-make-
fully-web-service-because-some-corporation-c)

Vote for it if you want to hammer the point in. The extension is probably for
that irritating button that's on all pages until you disable it (preferences
at the bottom of the folder list).

------
fdb
It scares me that they add 500,000 users and I don't understand how they make
money.

At this point I'd like to either pay for a service or use something self-
hosted to make sure I don't have to go through a painful transition again.

~~~
Rickasaurus
They must be selling your info. Just look at the Chrome access: "Access your
data on all websites" and "Access your tabs and browsing activity"

~~~
dangrossman
Are you really just going to defame a company based on nothing but the
granularity of Chrome's extension permissions? That's not just irresponsible
but downright malicious.

Any extension that interacts with webpages needs that permission. Even if it's
just to add a button. Before you go accusing them of selling information about
your web browsing, you could at least check if they collect that information
in the first place. Which is easy, since a network inspector is built-in to
Chrome, and Chrome extensions are just ZIP files you can open up to read the
code inside.

Hint: They don't. The plugin inserts a share image into the page, and the
image is embedded in the plugin, not hosted on Feedly's server. It creates no
network requests at all, so there's no involuntary information passing
happening.

------
mixedbit
If 500k users switched in 48h, 3 months before the shut down, how many users
the Reader actually has? It seems it must be a lot.

~~~
jemka
Do you think all of the 500k were actual Google Reader users? It's possible a
portion are jumping on the hivemind's bandwagon. Not discrediting the cause,
just saying that some people like to join causes for the sake of joining
causes.

~~~
brown9-2
Exactly - how do they know which product their users were using before signing
up for Feedly?

~~~
julius
They let you import your google reader data.

------
georgeoliver
I looked at 10 or 15 readers and am using Feedly at the moment. I tweaked it a
little to get a minimal and compact layout.

<http://wp.me/aseR-cs>

I added an extension [1] to open articles in a background tab (their keyboard
shortcut foregrounds the new tab).

I made a simple new style in Stylish [2] to streamline the UI:

    
    
      #feedlyTitleBar {display:none !important;}
      #feedlyPageHeader {display:none !important;}
      #systemBar {display:none !important;}
    

So far this works for me.

[1] [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/feedly-will-
open-e...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/feedly-will-open-entry-
in/ebjjigiapfaenlmhdidmmcaekjhclehj)

[2]
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stylish/fjnbnpbmke...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stylish/fjnbnpbmkenffdnngjfgmeleoegfcffe?hl=en)

~~~
Kopion
So much relative effort and baggage compared to how Reader works. Reader's
death continues to sadden me.

~~~
georgeoliver
Actually I had to make the same changes to Reader.

~~~
k3n
For background tabs, Reader doesn't require an extension. All links should be
normal <a> tags, just middle-click (or right-click > new tab) and it opens
behind Reader.

~~~
georgeoliver
It has been a long time since I checked, but it didn't work for the keyboard
shortcut ('v' I think in Reader?)

------
niggler
Congratulations on being well-positioned and ready to handle the onslaught
when Google announced that they were axing Reader. You clearly were "where the
puck will be" :)

------
white_devil
Just when we were discussing the complete lack of online privacy, here's a
_free_ app that just happily added new servers and 10x bandwith to accommodate
500 000 more users.

Sweet. Nevermind how they can afford all that capacity. Maybe they're a
charity, funded by Bill & Melinda?

~~~
tempestn
I'm sure they will come out with a premium version or some such eventually. If
you were Feedly would you really turn down the opportunity provided here just
because you can't immediately monetize the new users?

------
astar
If this many Reader users converted in so short of time, then it is amazing
that Google could't find a way to monetize the service or at least keep it
revenue-neutral, or even have it be a useful loss-leader

------
ialja
So, nobody was using Google Reader anyway, declining numbers and so on, eh?

~~~
icebraining
It's a question of scale. When a company has services with more than 400
million users, a stagnant half a million is not that great.

~~~
Samuel_Michon
I suspect the number of active GR users is closer to 50 million, seeing as 24
million people are subscribed to the CNN feed alone.

(I'm subscribed to hundreds of feeds, but CNN isn't one of them. I also think
most users outside of the US won't be subscribed to the CNN feed.)

[http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2013/03/google-reader-
data-...](http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2013/03/google-reader-data-
points.html)

~~~
Kylekramer
If it was anywhere near 50 million active users, Google Reader would not have
been shut down. Even if it was 25 million actives it would still be kicking.
Plain and simple. Subscribing to CNN seems like the behavior of beginner RSS
readers who abandon the concept. Seems like a good idea, but a general, high
volume feed with more noise than signal for the average person doesn't really
make sense for Google Reader user. I'd be shocked if the number of those
actively reading the CNN feed was anywhere above 5 million.

For comparison, CNN on Twitter only has 7.7 million followers. Do you honestly
believe 3x more people are reading CNN's RSS feed than their Twitter feed?

~~~
julianz
Yep. RSS is a better way to read news. If I subscribe to an RSS feed then I
get to pick through the whole thing at the point where I feel like reading it.
Twitter just blasts past so fast it's gone in minutes, I miss maybe 90% of my
Twitter stream (conservative estimate, it's probably more). I realise you can
go and look at an individual Twitter feed but it takes several clicks to see
the whole thing and it's not as fast as RSS.

------
angusgr
As far as I can tell Feedly has no OPML export feature, so if it eventually
goes away it's a dead end for users.

(Please prove me wrong, but I searched the site and also installed the
extension to try and find one.)

~~~
mkr-hn
It's a frontend for Google Reader right now. I think most are assuming the
option will appear when they switch over to their own API after Reader goes
dark.

However, you should vote on the suggestion just in case:
[https://feedly.uservoice.com/forums/192636-suggestions/sugge...](https://feedly.uservoice.com/forums/192636-suggestions/suggestions/3744603-google-
reader-an-option-to-export-ompl-data-we-ne)

~~~
angusgr
Ah, right, thank you. I hadn't realised they weren't importing, just
accessing.

I'm not a feedly user so I don't mind but thanks for the link to the
suggestion, good to see it's being considered.

------
skybrian
They are currently #1 in trending apps on the Chrome store:
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/trending?utm_sou...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/trending?utm_source=chrome-
ntp-icon)

And #4 in Android trending apps:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/movers_shakers...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/movers_shakers?hl=en﻿)

------
daigoba66
I wish it worked in IE. By that I mean I wish it worked without a browser
extension.

------
Apocryphon
"You venture to call Ferdinand a wise ruler," he said to his courtiers—"he who
has impoverished his own country and enriched mine!"

------
znowi
In contrast to a lot of discontent about the Reader's demise, think about the
opportunities it brings for this market? I've seen at least 10 alternatives
popping up these last 2 days. Google leaving jump-started the competition in a
seemingly stagnant field.

------
pbreit
Surprisingly, Feedly seems like the best replacement at this point. But it's
bizarre that Feedly requires plugin/extension for browsers and an app for iOS.
Obviously the winning solution is a web site and iOS-optimized web pages.

------
overloaded
I would love to see how Feedly is, but it's completely broken in Safari. It
asks for approval via Google OAuth on every page load, and once it has
approval it displays a login page, again.

There seem to be a number of issues surrounding this. Some people point to
OAuth being the problem. Some people point to the Safari extension. One way or
another, it's broken, and there's absolutely nothing on their Twitter, blog,
Uservoice, or Get Satisfaction even indicates they're aware of the cloud of
problems surrounding Safari usage.

------
edo
Feedly must be having a party now. Kudos to them.

------
downandout
One man's trash is another man's treasure.

------
bencevans
Sounds like a <http://highscalability.com/> post to me!

------
rhapsodyv
Man, how I hate blogs that I can't find a link to the main site!!! And it
appears to be the rule!! :-/

------
jason_slack
Does Feedly for IOS have a feed limit? I have I think 160 feeds and it seems
to cut me off at 90 I think. My feeds just aren't there. I dont find any
settings that help with this either.

------
stef25
Is there any way of turning off the "Featured" content at the top? This is
like Facebook pushing content that I never asked for. Here it's right at the
top too.

Other than looks good.

~~~
mkr-hn
Switch to a different view with the little gear icon at the top. I don't know
about other views, but the Titles view doesn't have the featured articles
thing. That said, Featured only shows posts from your own subscriptions within
the folder, not from some shared collection or advertiser pushing.

------
billN
Feedly is a good alternative, but not great. Those guys should prioritise a
bit more functionality over designs (and remove all those CSS animations!!!)

------
dendory
I'm happy for them but I just don't like their interface. Anyone knows if
Feeddler has plans to keep going? I like that app.

------
malloreon
If I had a feed reading service, I'd consider making a blog post just like
this, hoping to make it self-fulfilling.

------
Jleagle
Don't understand why more people are not just sticking with Google Reader
until it closes instead of switching now.

~~~
itafroma
If you rely on Google Reader for your daily workflow, figuring out which
service or application is a suitable alternative after Reader closes is too
late. Unless you're hoping for a 180 from Google, which there's no evidence to
support right now, waiting just cuts the amount of time you can use to test
the alternatives while still having access to Google Reader as a fallback.

~~~
guptaneil
One good reason is that the RSS reader landscape is going to change
drastically in the coming months as other developers jump to fill the hole
left by Reader. The app you end up using may not even exist yet. Sure, the
cost of switching is low, but it still seems like a waste of time to start
searching now when so much will change in the next 3 months.

~~~
itafroma
If you're sure the app you'll end up using hasn't been made public yet and the
current alternatives are not going to do it for you, that's a risk you can
take, definitely: but it's still a heck of a risk if Reader is integral to
what you do online. At any rate, I don't think it's _that_ hard to understand
why thousands of people are already making contingency plans this far out.

------
stevewilhelm
To add Chrome, but provide data access on all websites and access to table and
browsing activity?

No way.

------
ForFreedom
Just how do I register on Feedly and read the feeds via the browser not mobile
device?

------
ashleyblackmore
Hey I hear you can download software to your own computer and use it without
having a dependency on a cloud service. Craziness!

~~~
tomjen3
Which was a great solution when I only had one computer and a phone that could
send SMS and nothing more.

These days? Not so much.

------
fakeer
I see a lot of users just going to every service mentioned by that blog or
that blogger. Without any research. As '@nsns' says it's the searching phase.

There are services that are famous as of now, very famous. Not because those
are best out there(or even better than average) but because they played good
on social scene the day Google read out Reader's death sentence. Feedly,
having used them, is certainly not a great service. It's a client that is
everywhere. It's a good one(must be) I personally never liked it.

But at least they are handling the load better than others. NewsBlur looks
like a slow clunky web app. There are few others like FeedHQ.org and 1kpl.us
but none of them are still there.

Looks like Feedly is just hoarding users with a promise to be sth that at
least they are not going to be - the 'holy grail' of RSS sync service - which
is the void GR actually created. A clean and fast web app/server where our
feeds can reside in the cloud. And all the blog posts out there are talked
about just one thing - these clients; and users listened.

That is how they have these many numbers.

------
Cordiapxq
Of course! This seems to be the most recommended substitute, my question is
why? Is it really that much better than the rest?

~~~
mkr-hn
NewsBlur was a kludge when it worked and let you add more than 12 feeds. And
Feedly was prepared for Google announcing the Reader shutdown. NewsBlur could
be a strong contender for the next exodus when Reader finally goes dark, but
it has a long way to go.

The rest are a bit weird, mobile-only, or don't know what they're going to do
when the Reader API they depend on shuts down.

Personally, I like Feedly's UX. It's like an evolution of Reader. It's much
smoother, and has a magazine view for feeds where it makes sense.

------
hydralist
marketers dream right there. retention strategy a/b 101 week

