End of Google Reader services, announced

CEBU, Philippines - Google, though a Google Blog post authored by Urs Hölzle, senior vice president of technical infrastructure and Google Fellow, announced the upcoming end of its Google Reader RSS service by July 1, 2013.

Citing a decline in usage as the reason for Google Reader’s end, the post also notes the end-of-service dates of other Google-branded services, including Google Building Maker, Google Cloud Connect and Google Voice for BlackBerry.

Google Reader users are advised to find RSS alternatives before July 1.

Users can migrate their stored Reader data to other service providers via data synchronization/consolidation functions, or can transfer Reader data via Google Takeout. (FREEMAN)