Many Neuromarketing readers still use Google Reader to keep up with their favorite blogs. It has been a great tool, one I used myself. But, Google decided to kill Reader as of July 1 in what they termed a round of “spring cleaning.” So, if you are still subscribing using Google Reader, here are a couple of alternatives:
Reader Alternatives
If you like to see updates from a range of blogs in one window, then finding another feed reader is a good idea. Peter Meyers, Marketing Scientist at Moz and Dr_Pete on Twitter, has been giving different feed readers a workout, using each one for a week and reporting on the results. His early favorite is Feedly, which allows easy import of feeds from Google Reader.
I’ve started using Feedly myself, and the Google import is indeed quite painless. My only complaint is that the Chrome plugin was a bit wonky on my laptop – it launched some kind of background process that didn’t die even when all Chrome windows were closed. I asked Dr. Pete about that, and he encountered no plugin problems at all. If the plugin acts up in your environment, that’s not a problem – you can access your content easily via the browser even without installing the plugin.
Either Way, Subscribe by Email
Even if you set up a new reader, it’s a good idea to subscribe by email. Here’s why I recommend that approach:
- Only one email per week.
- With only 1-3 posts per week, new Neuromarketing content can get lost in a busy feed stream.
- No dependence on specific readers.
- No spam, sales pitches, etc.
- Your email will never be sold or shared.
- It’s FREE!
- Never miss a Neuromarketing post!
To subscribe by email, just click here:
Naturally, if you ever want to stop subscribing, every email has a link to do do that. Our email subs are all handled by Feedblitz, a service we have used for years with no subscriber complaints. [In fact, if you are a Feedburner user, you should worry that it’s another Google product with diminishing support. We selected Feedblitz as the better choice years ago, but now there’s a real need for an alternative to Feedburner.] Those ARE affiliate links, by the way – we rarely recommend products here, and we do so only when we know the product and like it.
Don’t Forget Brainy Marketing
As long as we’re talking about feed readers and such, be sure to subscribe to my blog at Forbes.com, Brainy Marketing. There’s very little content overlap with this blog. You can subscribe by email if you create a Forbes profile, or use this RSS feed link to add it to your reader.
Thanks for being a Neuromarketing reader! Have any questions about subscriptions or anything else? Send a note to neuro [at] neurosciencemarketing [dot] com.
Its just beyond me why would google kill GR without first offering a better alternative…
I agree, Havva. I can’t imagine the maintenance on the product was very high, it’s not like there are constant changes to RSS technology. Some have speculated that they want to drive people to use GooglePlus, though I think Feedly is the big winner in terms of traffic.
Feedly is the way to go. Automatic importing from GReader, beautiful formatting options, easy to use, can be integrated into it’s own dedicated tab for most browsers (works great in Chrome).
Thanks to Feedly, I no longer fear the GReader Reaper.
Other than the plugin issue, Steve, I’m satisfied with Feedly. So far, so good.
Thanks!
One thing though, I tend to unsubscribe from blogs that only show an excerpt in feeds. I mostly read RSS on my phone, and constantly clicking to visit sites gets annoying.
Whar’s your reasoning for not exposing all text to feeds? Let us know, and us readers may be able to suggest an alternative solution to you. 🙂
why are they doing away with it, and whats the big deal with using other popular services like feedburner?
Hi roger, your blog is really a nice place to read. thanks for sharing good articles.
Google reader was part of my daily life. every morning i waited to get new fresh articles to read.Moving all the feeds to new readers is taking time and many links getting lots. I personally feel its a wrong decision to close GR.
Thanks for stopping by, Suraj. Feedly will import your Google Reader feeds automatically if you let it. Might save some time. Good luck!
Roger, thanks for the post. Feedly has also become my reader of choice following the demise of GR. I also encountered the same Feedly plugin issue that you described. If I follow you correctly, it appears that the Feedly plugin automatically creates a “Pinned Tab” in Chrome. To get rid of this tab (I found it annoying) simply right-click the small Feedly tab and select “Unpin Tab” from the dropdown menu. That should solve the issue. It hasn’t reappeared in my version of Chrome since then.
Good to know, John, I’ll give it a try! Thanks!
Still mad at Google for that but I definitely like feedly as a good alternative.
Bad news, but do you know any good alternative, that is avaliable not only on the pc (have found a coule) but as an app on tablets ad smartphones? Are there any?