Serious Problems with RSS - Part 1 (Accurate Metrics)
Like some of you, I’ve tried just about every RSS reader out there. I’m more or less using Google Reader and Rojo now, which leads to one of the first serious problems I see with RSS: getting accurate metrics.
There are tools out there to help but many of them don’t have the ability to account for things like multiple subscriptions (e.g., if one person uses multiple RSS readers) and cannot provide detailed demographic information. That means it is harder to monetize RSS content because site owners might not have a correct picture of their readership.
So, even if someone has 5K subscribers, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have 5K readers. My experience shows that somewhere between 10-20% of the total subscriber base is actually consuming content. I’m basing that off of different clients I’ve worked with (as well as my own stats), so that’s not scientific (if anyone has legit numbers, chime in).
Of course, I’m positive RSS metrics will mature beyond what we presently see. In the meantime, however, it’s important to advocate this technology within the context of this limitation.
October 24, 2006 at 9:48 am
This depends entirely on where your subscribers are coming from. For instance, Web-based RSS readers like MyYahoo! have a lot subs, but very few actual readers. That’s because they tend to report the total subs, not the active subs. On the other hand, native RSS readers like GreatNews report active subs, so the count is very accurate. Email-based readers like Rmail tend to be very accurate because I unsub anyone who gets a substantial amount of delivery failures. I notice you use FeedBlitz. I hope you don’t mind your readers getting spammed ;-)
October 24, 2006 at 2:24 pm
Randy, your point is taken - but I don’t think it applies to the crux of the problems I was speaking to: 1) Multiple subscribers (e.g., I subscribe to a feed through Rojo and Google Reader - and use both in addition to a client and mobile feed reader). 2) Demographics.