Google Reader is dead. Long live Google Reader!

It’s D-day. Google Reader is bidding goodbye and is walking into the sunset today. The service that allowed readers to go through articles and news feeds in one location will be shuttered off for good by the Internet giant today.

Post today, the service will no longer be useable and you will not be able to view your feeds on Google Reader anymore. You can still use another RSS reader to salvage your feeds and keep using them.

Google will let you take a back-up of your feeds for further use. You can get your hands on them till July 15 when the Internet giant will stop letting you access the feeds you’ve lovingly built up.

Create an archive of your feeds using Takeout

Head over to Google Takeout and log in with your account. Click on the “Choose Services” tab and select Google Reader from the list. The service will create a back-up of your data. This might take a while if you had signed up for a lot of feeds. When the back-up has been created, you will be able to download it by clicking on “Create Archive”. Then comes the tough choice of choosing your new RSS service from a host of spruced services vying for your attention.

Google had announced that it would be shutting Reader down as part of its dreaded spring cleaning exercise, back in March. Much to the dismay of the Internet, Google decided to put Reader down as it believed that the service’s usage had declined over the years. There were a couple of more theories that were floated around, including the fact that Google could not afford the cost of ensuring privacy and compliance for Reader. A Senior Director, News and Social Products at Google also put a theory out that said that Reader was dying thanks to smartphone users who were consuming news in “bits and bites”.

Whatever the case maybe, Google Reader will be gone for good. Time to choose a new RSS reader!