status: summary of rss readers used to access ack/nak

(last update: April 5, 2006)

How do you prefer to consume blogs? Web? RSS Reader? Browser bar in Firefox?

If my numbers are any indication of more global trends, here's how it shakes out from the RSS reader perspective:

21% [-4%] Firefox Live Bookmarks

23% [+3%] Bloglines

8% [NC] Safari RSS

5% [-2%] NewsGator Online

3% [NC] "A Java-Based Feed Reader"

7% [+5%] Feedblitz (email-based subscription)

36% [+4%] "Other Readers", which includes Netvibes, SharpReader, (not identified), My Yahoo, RSS Bandit, Safari RSS (OS X Tiger), Windows Media Center 2005 Feed Reader, Windows RSS Platform, Biz360 Spider, Egress, Feedchecker, Google FeedFetcher, NetNewsWire, Newsgator Outlook Edition, Omea Reader, Pluck, Protopage, Topic Blogs, Opinmind

Summary

• Winners: Feedblitz, Bloglines, "Other" (see below)
• Losers: Firefox RSS Reader, NewsGator Online
• Neutral: Safari RSS, "A Java Based News Reader"

Trends

• A 90% increase in readers making up "Other Readers" shows a dramatic increase in consumer options for reading RSS feeds.
• No new "breakout" RSS feed readers in evidence in the last six months based on volume.
• Top share winner was Feedblitz - the growth of its use at ack/nak can potentially be attributed to its prominent placement on the site as a subscription option.