AOL has announced they will be bringing an RSS reader to the web and mobile as yet another replacement to Google Reader, which will be closing on July 1 following months of revenue loss.
While AOL isn’t the only company getting ready to try and tackle RSS, it is certainly one of the oldest. The Internet company has been invested in media for the past few years, so this new RSS reader could be seen as a clever move.
The new RSS reader is currently in closed beta but AOL will open it tomorrow for users to join up. The AOL Reader will offer basic customisation to the feed, as Feedly and Google Reader does and tagging.
AOL seems committed to the RSS reader project, stating future updates will be coming to the service quickly, including an exporting option, third party access, iOS and Android native apps and other tweaks.
This puts AOL on the list with Digg and possible Facebook, all trying to make a clever RSS reader to help the growing number of people stuck by Google Reader’s closure.
Feedly has said they have rocketed up in users following Google Reader’s closing, with 3 million in the first week and another few million since. They have started adding their own server space and making sure they back away from Google Reader before it closes.
While trying to tackle the RSS reader business may seem a bit old, especially considering the reason Google Reader closed was due to insufficient usage and revenue. However, some companies may see five million potential users as enough to sustain a service.
