Will your feeds be burned by Google?

Much has been written lately about Google’s announcement that it will close the (beloved by many) Reader RSS news app. Marco Arment has what I think to be the best take.

“Our best option is to avoid supporting and using proprietary monocultures.”

The solution is fairly simple. Change apps. Export OPML. Import OPML. Done.

But. If Reader doesn’t fit in Google’s new “plus” ecosystem, will Feedburner?

Many independent web publishers are in a more dangerous situation. By using Google Feedburner, these publishers are at risk of losing their loyal RSS-loving readership. What happens when (not if) Google decides to close Feedburner? It won’t be as easy as changing apps.

Converting your RSS-loving readership away from an an old feed will take a lot of effort. Four months may no be enough.

When it comes to your site’s RSS feed, Marco’s recommendation is worthy of repeating:

“Avoid supporting and using proprietary monocultures.”

And move those feeds away from Google.