What Google is REALLY Up To: Google Reader and AOL Newsreader and Facebook Newsreader, Oh My!

So!

Google Reader – it be going bye-bye at the end of June.  As in, next week!

You might be wondering….what’s next?

So am I indeed.

The big huge behemoth is *willingly* abandoning one of the most useful Google tools that’s been created.  One can only wonder…..

Why?

What is Google REALLY up to?

Hmmmm?

True – all the buzz that is currently being generated gives Google a powerful springboard for whatever replacement they’ thinking about offering.

And other companies as well are scrambling to fill the anticipated void, to wit:

… This week AOL launched a beta version of its AOL Reader, with an image-rich format on a minimalist background that is getting some positive reviews from Wired, among others.

Other reviewers sneer because it’s a (free) ad-supported feature, or just because it’s AOL.

It must be said that tech writers are not the best source of consumer software reviews for the rest of us. From the look of the early beta version, AOL deserves credit for going well beyond the plain text RSS feed….MORE

Wise writing, that, especially regarding tech writers.

But I digress.

The Wall Street Journal recently revealed that Facebook has been quietly building a mobile news serviced entitled (hope you’re sitting down for this) <ahem> “Reader”.   You can read more about that over at:

blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/06/24/the-eye-behind-facebooks-stealthy-reader-project/

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323998604578563853135203858.html

One cannot underestimate the importance of the mobile community paired with online news gathering; LinkedIn earlier this year spent approximately 90 million dollars to acquire “Pulse”  as reported by Forbes.

www.forbes.com/sites/darcytravlos/2013/04/15/linkedins-acquisition-of-pulse-promotes-role-of-game-changer/

To wit:

…Pulse is a mobile application that enables users to create personalized news feeds, and currently has 30M members in 190 countries and 750 content publishers.  How can Pulse benefit LinkedIn?  Pulse enhances LinkedIn’s objective to become a content platform and advances LinkedIn’s mobile platform because Pulse is a mobile application….MORE

Thus, the battle for mobile eyeballs (and thus, increased mobile ad revenue) continues to heat up.

Will Google unveil its own New and Improved Reader, newly arisen from the ashes like a vengeful Phoenix?

I don’t think so.

Or will websites that have all of sudden *lost* all that Google Reader traffic…be forced to consider paid alternatives like Google Adwords (more  money for the shareholders)?

After July 1st, a multitude of sites will lose a significant traffic source (Google Reader).  This will result in less eyeballs on the site and less opportunities for advertising income to be generated.  Website owners will have to replace this traffic somehow…and Google Adwords will be right there to help regenerate it online.

From a strictly business growth viewpoint, this makes logical sense for Google.   Google Reader is simply one component of their business.   Google Plus, for example, which is their answer to Facebook’s popularity, is ever-increasing in services and applications (take, for example, their recent photo enhancement as mentioned by ABC News at abcnews.go.com/Technology/google-focuses-photos-fight-twitter-facebook-instagram/ ).   Take away the free traffic component generated by Google Reader, and you now have businesses scrambling for a replaacement which Google just happens to have available – Adwords, Google Plus and the like.

I personally believe the demise of Google Reader will result in an increased push to Google Adwords and other site-sharing capabilities currently offered by Google+.  It’s a long-term strategic business decision and only highlights Google’s commitment to becoming the premiere social network online.

Next week should be *most* telling indeed.  Stay tuned!

Grow strong,

Barbara Ling

This article has also appeared in the Marlboro Patch at marlboro-coltsneck.patch.com/groups/the-authority-builder/p/todays-google-reader-termination-and-your-local-business-traffic-implications .

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