Oh-Ah: Google Reader Feed Info!
The blogosphere is abuzz this morning about how it’s now possible to determine how many Google Readers subscriber a blog has attracted. Nothing like some navel gazing to start the week - and so soon the heels of the Techmeme 100 controversy! All that energy, all those words - impressive!
Stepping back from the fray - but still wading on the edge - there are two more interesting issues at play. One is how Google Reader has become so popular in such a short period of time. I guess the Google brand and user-friendliness and the growing use of RSS feeds are a solid 1-2-3 combination. The second is how the number of RSS subscribers is attracting more attention within a world obsessed with traffic/statistics.
For blogs - at least those not too interested in attracting advertising - a real sign of success is the number of RSS subscribers because it suggests you have a loyal following - people who think enough of your blog to make it a regular or semi-regular read. As RSS becomes easier to use, the number of subscribers, in theory, to climb.
Not that anyone is going to get away from traffic statistics any time soon. In fact, I installed Performancing Metrics over the weekend - ended up using the Javascript because the Wordpress plug-in wouldn’t work. If you’re into statistics, it’s worth checking out.
More: Check out TechCrunch’s Erick Schonfeld, who has a post on how Google Reader leads the activity and bookmarking markets for RSS readers. Meanwhile, Mashable has a deliciously nasty post that suggests RSS totals for many high-profile blogs are completely inaccurate.
