Digg: We’re Building A Google Reader Replacement

Want a good replacement for Google Reader? Perhaps it’s appropriate that another brand from the Reader heyday, Digg, is planning to build that.

From Digg’s blog post today:

We’ve heard people say that RSS is a thing of the past, and perhaps in its current incarnation it is, but as daily (hourly) users of Google Reader, we’re convinced that it’s a product worth saving. So we’re going to give it our best shot.

We’ve been planning to build a reader in the second half of 2013, one that, like Digg, makes the Internet a more approachable and digestible place. After Google’s announcement, we’re moving the project to the top of our priority list. We’re going to build a reader, starting today….

We hope to identify and rebuild the best of Google Reader’s features (including its API), but also advance them to fit the Internet of 2013, where networks and communities like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit and Hacker News offer powerful but often overwhelming signals as to what’s interesting. Don’t get us wrong: we don’t expect this to be a trivial undertaking. But we’re confident we can cook up a worthy successor.

In order to pull this off in such a small window, we’re going to need your help. We need your input on what you want to see in a reader. What problems should it solve for you? What’s useful? What isn’t? What do you wish it could do that it can’t today?

If you want to pitch in your thoughts – or just want to be notified when it’s ready – please click here. If you have zero interest in any of this, don’t worry, the Digg you know and love isn’t going away.

Of course, Digg isn’t the same Digg as when it and Google Reader were both popular in the 2006-2009 years. It was purchased last year by Betaworks and relaunched with a new format, one that the company recently said has been growing and working.

I certainly thought yesterday maybe Betaworks would jump into the space, and I wasn’t alone. RSS pioneer Dave Winer tweeted his own thought that this might happen. It makes sense. Betaworks is a smart, active incubator with many socially-related products. If anyone can enter the newsreader space afresh and make a go of it, it can.

About The Author

Danny Sullivan

Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, MarTech Today and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.