> There are two simple reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we’re pouring all of our energy into fewer products. We think that kind of focus will make for a better user experience.

Google Reader seems like one of the most direct bits of attention-grabbing competition to Google Plus.

I suspect they already have a long-term plan in place to sunset Blogger in favor of Plus as well.

Ongoing discussion -> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5371725

any real alternatives suggestion? I don't care for fancy magazine like interface or anything, I just want to be able to quickly scan for news, click on one that I am interested in, and mark everything else as read. also, fast.

Makes me wonder whether a service that stores a feed list and simply spits out an email for each new item would be so bad.