Google to decommission Reader along with 70 other features and services

Google will shut down Google Reader and 70 other features and services in its second spring cleanup.

The RSS aggregator was launched back in 2005. Although it received its fair share of updates the service wasn’t under Google’s radar since the past few months. For now Google is offering it’s users an option to export their data and subscriptions before they pull out the plug on July 1st, 2013.

Amongst the other abandoned features/services here are the notable ones…

  • GUI Builder and five UiApp widgets
  • CalDAV API
  • Google Building Maker
  • Google Cloud Connect
  • Google Voice App for Blackberry
  • Search API for Shopping
  • Snapseed Desktop for Macintosh and Windows

The internet generally has not responded well to Google’s decision to axe Google Reader and a petition to save Google Reader has already recieved 44,000 signatures.

This decision has also caused a lot of users to reconsider their faith in Google. After all, they could drop key services such as Drive and Calendar whenever they feel so.

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