Google to shut down Reader and more as part of spring cleaning

Shawn Knight

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Less is more at Google this year as the search giant has announced plans to retire more services in the latest wave of spring cleaning. Paramount among them is Google Reader, the company’s web-based program that allows users to subscribe to news feeds from their favorite websites.

Google Reader launched in 2005 and despite the fact that it has a loyal following, Google said that usage has declined over the years. As such, the service will be shuttered on July 1 which gives users and developers plenty of time to export their data with Google Takeout for use on an alternate service.

In addition to Reader, Google will be dumping CalDAV API, Google Building Maker, Google Cloud Connect, Google Voice App for Blackberry, Search API for Shopping and Snapseed Desktop for Macintosh and Windows. Closing dates vary but Google says that by September 16, all of the above mentioned services will be shut down. The new closures bring the total to 70 features or services that have been shut down since spring cleaning started in 2011.

Google said it’s been a long time since we have had this rate of change. We’re now living in a new computing environment where everyone has a device, sometimes multiple devices. The company said that in order to make the most of these opportunities, they need focus – otherwise they run the risk of spreading themselves too thin and lack impact. Cutting out some of the lesser popular features and services will allow them to focus more intently on what matters to users most.

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I'd like to point out that the top five alternatives are getting hammered. Heck, they've actually been offline a lot of the time. So really, Greader didn't have a 'dwindling following' as Google says. :(
 
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