Google Killing Reader – And A Bit Of Themselves

Google announced that Google Reader will be shut down on July 1st, 2013.

How sad. I use Reader daily – mostly through apps for Android – and it’s my primary (only?) way to stay up-to-date with industry news. I use it so much that I learned about Google’s decision in Google Reader!

I’ve read tons of bad comments about this, and I can’t agree more with them. I understand that Reader does not have as many users as Gmail, but to Google’s admission it still “has a loyal following.”

In my opinion, this kind of unilateral actions do more harm than good to Google. It alienates users, and makes them think about other products as well. Will FeedBurner survive? How long? What about Blogger? Should we look for something else?

Google had no mercy in killing products that they think don’t fit their business anymore, or are too complex to maintain, going once again a bit farther from their own motto “Don’t be evil.”