Google Reader is no more. Google officially closed the doors on its popular RSS news reader yesterday. Today, it has posted the following message:

Google Reader has been discontinued. We want to thank all our loyal fans. We understand you may not agree with this decision, but we hope you’ll come to love these alternatives as much as you loved Reader./p>

Sincerely,

The Google Reader team

Frequently-asked questions

1. What will happen to my Google Reader data?

All Google Reader subscription data (eg. lists of people that you follow, items you have starred, notes you have created, etc.) will be systematically deleted from Google servers. You can download a copy of your Google Reader data via Google Takeout until 12PM PST July 15, 2013.

2. Will there be any way to retrieve my subscription data from Google in the future?

No — all subscription data will be permanently, and irrevocably deleted. Google will not be able to recover any Google Reader subscription data for any user after July 15, 2013.

3. Why was Google Reader discontinued?

Google announced the shutdown of Reader in March, saying it had seen a “deterioration of interest” in the service.

“We launched Google Reader in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites,” Google SVP of Technical Infrastructure Urs Hölzle said at the time. “While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined.”

The news of Google Reader’s closure didn’t go down well with the service’s loyal following, with users flocking to the web to bemoan Google’s decision to shut it down.

One Twitter user said, “Killing off Wave was merciful; but killing off Google Reader? Oh my aching old bones, what are they thinking?” Others said that Google should have shut off its not so popular social network Google+ instead.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel for loyal Google Reader users, though, as other firms have been quick to launch similar services to win over users with nowhere to read news.

In addition to the alternatives linked to above, AOL has launched AOL Reader, which made its full debut yesterday.

Source: searchenginewatch.com