Google Reader , one of the best-known feeds through which users can pull together their favorite Web content in one place , will be shutting down , the company announced . In an age of Facebook posts and retweets , Google Senior Vice President Urs Holzle said in a post on the official Google blog that Reader was losing popularity . `` While the product has a loyal following , over the years usage has declined , '' Holzle wrote . Reader will be shut down on July 1 . Users wanting to port their content to another RSS ( rich site summary ) feed can use Google Takeout to move it over the next four months . The move is part of a massive `` spring cleaning '' that Google began in 2011 and which has nuked about 70 of its wide array of products . The point is focus in a time when mobile technology is dramatically and quickly changing the computing world , said Holzle . `` It 's been a long time since we have had this rate of change -- it probably has n't happened since the birth of personal computing 40 years ago , '' he wrote . `` To make the most of these opportunities , we need to focus -- otherwise we spread ourselves too thin and lack impact . Among the 40 shutdowns announced Wednesday also were the Google Voice app for BlackBerry , the desktop version of photo app Snapseed , Google Cloud Connect and Google Building Maker , which lets users create models of buildings on Google Earth and Google Maps . Released in 2005 , Google Reader was begun four years earlier as a project called JavaCollect by independent software engineer Chris Wetherell . After joining Google , he worked with a team to perfect and enhance it . `` We know Reader has a devoted following who will be very sad to see it go , '' said software engineer Alan Green on the Google Reader blog . `` We 're sad too . '' Reader , and RSS feeds in general , remain popular with active , Web-savvy users who rely upon them to pull together the best of the Internet in one easy-to-read stream . But they never caught on among more casual users content to visit their favorite sites or rely on friends on social media to share interesting posts . The feeds are also difficult to make money from , and Google never tried to place ads on Reader or charge for its use . Indeed . Within hours of the announcement , several online petitions to save the service had gotten thousands of signatures . On petition site Change.org , more than 46,000 people had signed the petition `` Google : Keep Google Reader Running . '' `` Our confidence in Google 's other products -- Gmail , YouTube , and yes , even Plus -- requires that we trust you in respecting how and why we use your other products , '' wrote Dan Lewis , of New York City , who created the petition . `` This is n't just about our data in Reader . This is about us using your product because we love it , because it makes our lives better , and because we trust you not to nuke it . '' There are several alternatives for Reader users , some of which have sprung up recently . Feedly and Pulse offer Web-based RSS feeds that also have mobile apps for Apple 's iOS and Android . Zite ( which is owned by CNN ) lets users create a feed based on their interests then refine the feed by voting content up or down . It uses Google Reader info to help select content . Rival Flipboard allows users to directly import their Google Reader content , a point they expressly made in a post Thursday .
Google announces plans to shut down Google Play . Google says service , launched in 2005 , has been losing users . Tens of thousands have signed petitions asking Google to keep Reader .