500,000 Google Reader Users Migrate To Feedly
Feedly,a news aggregator or RSS feed reader application service for Web/mobile iOS and Android users, is riding high, announcing that it has picked up 500,000 new users in a mere 48 hours. This follows Google’s recent move to shutter its Reader service has helped to boost the RSS service.
Feedly is now using ten times the bandwidth it was using before Google’s announcement. The app is now the number one free app in the Apple App Store.
Google’s decision to kill off its Reader product led to a storm of complaints. Despite RSS being an aged technology whose best days are firmly in the past, Reader retained a core, active constituency. That userbase was up for grabs the moment that Google decided to end Reader, and many alternatives stood up to accept the fleeing masses.
The company claims that Google Reader users can, prior to the end of Reader, “migrate seamlessly” to its service.
The most recent post on Feedly’s official blog states, “Our main priorities over the next 30 days are 1) to keep the service up, 2) listen to new users for suggestions and 3) add features weekly.”
Reports earlier this week from social news company Digg confirmed that they would be working on a replacement to the Google Reader.
With all of the time and money spent by these sites trying to replace Google Reader, wouldn’t it be funny if Google decided that with all of the petitions and the number of new accounts opened by other sites, it decided to give Reader another shot?