Google Has Aces Up Its Sleeve
Just when you thought that Google has been putting on a show of strength with its dominance (not inly in the search industry, but also in web apps and new media), it pulls up another ace from its sleeve. Google Reader, which has been lagging behind other popular RSS feed reading clients like Bloglines and Netvibes in terms of user base, has recently started releasing reader statistics. This is mostly important for letting feed service providers and analytics software get a more accurate representation of its readers.
And guess what people found out: Google Reader actually leads the pack! A lot were surprised when their feed readers suddenly jumped up several times over.
Apparently, when Google Reader was still not releasing feed subscription stats, it had been bundled in along with “others” in statistics. But it was actually better than, say, Bloglines, which many consider to be the more popular reader, in terms of the number of people using it.
So then what does this mean for us? It means there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to Google. Google may be the 950-pound gorilla that smaller service providers and web app creators may have to face, but then it’s not only the big things that one has to watch out for.
What do you think?