RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering frequently updated information, such as news headlines, blog posts, and podcasts over the web. RSS is often referred to as “web feeds” or just “feeds”. A good way to understand RSS feeds is to think about how magazine subscriptions work: rather than having to frequently visit the newsstand to check for a new issue of your favourite magazine, you can just subscribe to it and sit back and wait for the new issues to come to you. RSS works the same way. If your favourite website publishes an RSS feed, you don’t have to keep visiting it to find the latest news, information and content; you can just subscribe to the RSS feed and wait for that content to come to you!
One of the best things about RSS is the aggregator. RSS aggregators are applications that read RSS feeds and turn them into visually pleasing web pages or other formats for consumption. The other important feature of an aggregator is the built-in update functionality that checks the feeds you’ve subscribed to for new content. If new content is found, your aggregator delivers it to you.
Aggregators can be web-based like Bloglines or Google Reader, and can be more portal like including iGoogle, My Yahoo, Pageflakes, and Netvibes. These portal like aggregators are great for the purpose of brining in all the content someone needs to one location. So why then, do major content portals like MSN, Yahoo and others not deliver feeds through RSS?
Well the answer might be as simple as revenue. Major portals don’t want users consuming their content through aggregators as each page viewed through RSS, eliminates the ad impressions that these portals rely on as their source of revenue. This clash of making it easier for the consumer to gain access to the content of their choice, with the potential loss of ad impression revenue for the portal might alienate some members of the online audience.
There is good news however, and that news is that most portals do make their content readily available through RSS. They just don’t promote it on their home page, leaving it to more sophisticated users to find the links. Here are a few;
So will users stop going to portals to consume their content? Some might, but most wont. As a result portals need not fear the alternate delivery models of their content, rather they need to embrace them and find alternate ways to monetize their content and services.
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Very useful! Thanks!