RSS ? Will It Really Become Mainstream?

I am not one to have New Year's resolutions, but I do plan ahead. As we reached the last quarter of 2004, I decided that 2005 would be, for me, the year of article writing and RSS.

I have kept to my plan, but what has been happening on the RSS front? I have dutifully been using Blogs and RSS throughout 2005 to date. What about everybody else, though? Has this been the year when RSS has taken off?

One thing for sure is that there has been a lot of activity amongst internet marketers. According to Overture, they had 43,947 searches for RSS in April 2005. Out of interest, that compares to 825,674 for internet marketing. It is unlikely that an ordinary consumer would search for RSS; they are interested in the subject rather than the technical delivery term. Over 40,000 searches is high, and I think it is a fair bet that a majority of those will be marketing people trying to get up to speed and trying to understand what all the fuss is about.

One thing that does seem apparent is the over supply of information on the internet about RSS; in other words, the number of websites trying to push RSS is way out of kilter with the number of searches. Those 43,947 searches, according to Keyword Analyser, will bring up a staggering 275,000,000 results; that is a Results/Search ratio of 6258. That is very high, and indicates a tough market to penetrate and make money out of, at least on that search term. Do you think there are a lot of people looking for RSS tutorials? Well, in April 2005 there were just 272 on Overture. Results brought up by the search? 108,000,000! That's a R/S ratio of 397,059. Big supply, and little demand. If that were the gold market, the price of gold would be falling through the floor.

I admit that none of those figures mean a great deal, and nothing about the prospects of RSS becoming mainstream. Whether we reach the stage where many millions of consumers use RSS feeds as a matter of course will depend very much on the likes of Google, Yahoo, and MSN. All three are working away, beta testing various aspects of RSS. My Yahoo has been beta testing subscription to RSS feeds for some time now, and if I start a new feed, My Yahoo is my first port of call to subscribe to my own feed. That way, Yahoo know about it and the Yahoo search engine robot will dutifully go and check it out.

In due course, it will be up to the likes of Yahoo to convince their users that there are good reasons to subscribe to RSS feeds. To achieve that, the user interface for RSS will need to be seamless from their normal daily online activity. Things are gradually moving in that direction, but it remains to be seen whether RSS will ever become part of the every day online life of the average consumer.

Much of the interest surrounding RSS has been as a Spam Avoidance System. However, last week I was doing some research on RSS feeds through My Yahoo, and it was evident already that in some topics spam is beginning to rule the roost as far as the search results go. Let us hope that Yahoo and the other key players find ways to filter out the spammers, so that if RSS feeds do become mainstream, all is clean, welcoming and useful for the average user.

Roy Thomsitt is the owner, webmaster and author of http://www.change-direction.com and http://www.routes-to-self-improvement.com

---

Starting Your Own Blog

I was sitting in my local Internet Cafe yesterday, I... Read More

16 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

You've got your blog set up and you've started posting... Read More

#1 Mistake Most Blogs Do

As much as this might surprise most bloggers, the #1... Read More

Should My Home Business Have a Blog?

It's fair to say that blogging has taken the Internet... Read More

Bad Blogs Have Got To Go, Blogging Could Be Really Cool If Done Properly

There's a lot of blogs out there on the Web,... Read More

RSS Round-Up: Whats Happening with Simple Syndication?

Have you been following the explosion of RSS -- Really... Read More

Just Tag It!

Tags - Revolutionary or Just Folly?Just another trend or something... Read More

How To Create A Blog

Blogs are more permanent than posts to an online discussion... Read More

The Art of Business Blog Writing

"It is precisely minds of the first order that will... Read More

Business: Deliver Information Safely

Businesses that are not using feeds today, as part of... Read More

Blogging Your Way To Success Part 2

(Continued from Blogging Your Way To Success Part 1)By now,... Read More

Start Blogging Now: 10 Reasons Why You Really Need a Blog for Your Business

1. It is perfect for creating a web presence for... Read More

RSS Latest News - Blogging or Blagging?

The RSS latest news suggests that RSS can stand for... Read More

RSS and Blog Marketing for Real Estate

Earlier this month, Realtor Magazine announced that they would be... Read More

Prescription Blogs are Helping to Educate the Consumers on Prescription Consumption

Blogs are being used on a more consistent basis due... Read More

Blogs As A Marketing Tool

Blogs are the biggest things to happen to the Internet... Read More

RSS Feeds Just Got Better!

We all know that in the world of online internet... Read More

How To Add Random RSS Content To Your Site

Most savvy internet marketers will know how important it is... Read More

NEWS FLASH! Article Directories JUMP-ON The RSS Syndication Band Wagon

Quick question... do you publish 'Articles' on a regular basis?I'm... Read More

RSS: This Publishers Choice

RSS is the interactive communication tool being popularized by bloggers.... Read More

Is a Blog Right For Your Business?

Lemmings are cute, but dumb. If you tell them... Read More

What Is A Blog?

Blogs can be described in many definitions and they are... Read More

Blogs: Todays Internet Diary and Marketing Tool

The popular blogger.com owned by Google, Inc. has been around... Read More

RSS Feeds Can Increase Your Sales

RSS feeds are reshaping how we access information online. In... Read More

Why Blogs Have Become the Search Engine Optimization Equalizer

ALEXA WEIGHS IN...For those who are unaware of Alexa, it... Read More

To Blog or Not to Blog: Are Blogs Becoming More Popular than Forums, Newsletters and E-zines?

Blogging is hot, and seems to be becoming hotter each... Read More

How to Make Money with Your Blog

-- What Is A BlogA blog (or web log as... Read More

Blogging will Soon Take Over the World

In recent years, it's been pretty obvious that "blogging" (Web... Read More

Who Would Use RSS

My previous two articles "What is RSS and Why use... Read More

Blogging - Whats It All About

A blog usually is a web page that contains brief,... Read More

Boost your Search Engine Rankings with an RSS Feed

I'm here to teach you about how RSS Feeds can... Read More

Blood Test for Your Blog?

Are you contributing to one of the estimated 36.1 million... Read More

The Right Blog Software Can Make A Blog Stand Out from the Crowd

Blogs are an easy way to get your voice out... Read More