Petition to save Google Reader hits 100,000 signatures

The campaign to save Google Reader is gaining momentum, with 100,000 people signing the online petition in a bid to stop Google withdrawing the service.

Google-Reader

The campaign to save Google Reader is gaining momentum, with 100,000 people signing the online petition in a bid to stop Google withdrawing the service.

Earlier this week, Google announced it was to withdraw its Google Reader service due to declining interest in the RSS content aggregator, reports the Telegraph.

The Keep Google Reader Running petition on Change.org generated more than 400,000 page views since Wednesday.

At least eight related petitions have been started on the site since Wednesday, several of which also have thousands of signatures.
Google Reader death brings online outcry

Charlotte Hill, a spokesperson for the website, said people were clearly shocked and dismayed about Google's decision, and they came to Change.org to make their voices heard.

Google made the announcement in its company blog, stating two reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company they are pouring all energy into fewer products.

The Reader application was launched in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favourite websites. The service will be retired on July 1.

Google said users and developers interested in alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with 'Google Takeout' service over the course of the next four months.
Google tosses Reader as house cleaning continues

Google says that anyone not wanting to lose the data they have saved with Google Reader can download it using Google and store it in XML file.

There are several free alternative RSS services that people could use including Feedly, Friendfeed, Netvibes and RSS Owl.

Launched in 2005 by Google Labs, the Reader grew in popularity as it allowed users to subscribe to feeds using either its search function, or by entering the exact URL of the RSS or Atom feed.

However, over the years, the number of people using the feed seemed to be on the decline.
Sign the petition

And now, Google is well on its way to help users move their data from Reader to Takeout.

On Takeout's homepage, under the 'Escaping From Google Reader' subhead, subscribers are asked to "use Google Takeout to get a copy of all of your Reader data".