In just a matter of hours, Mountain View will relocate Google Reader to the Google graveyard. A moment of silence please.
Google announced back in March that its RSS service, created in 2005, would cease to exist on July 1, stating that "while the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined."
Since then, Google has also said that smartphone users were partly to blame for Reader's demise as we continue to consume news in a variety of new and different ways.
It was a stark reminder that this is Google's world and it calls the shots whenever it feels like it. By means of apology, Google provided users with instructions to transfer their data to other RSS platforms, but for a lot of people, it;s just not good enough.
So what now?
But if you've been too busy cherishing your final moments with Google Reader and haven't had time to consider where you'll relocate to next, we've done the hard part for you.
You can see our list of the 10 best Google Reader alternatives to fill that empty, RSS-shaped hole, and to remind you that the death of Google Reader down't mean it's RIP for RSS.
Of course, this isn't the first Google project to be thrown on the scrapheap. Google Wave said goodbye in 2011 and Google Talk has now been replaced by Google Hangouts, to name just a couple.
Yahoo also announced that it's closing down its RSS Alerts today, replacing them with email alerts instead. Because that won't be annoying at all.
