Google ‘mistake’ causes mass RSS outages

Google runs an URL shortening service called goo.gl. It also runs an RSS feed service, technology purchased with FeedBurner. Both of these services are widely used on the web.

Over the weekend, goo.gl started blocking all URLs generated by FeedBurner. That meant all links used in FeedBurner feeds suddenly started showing scary-looking alerts instead of linked content.

Given Google’s history of creating useful services, waiting until they’re widely-used, then killing them off, you’d be excused for assuming that this is just the latest installment of the ‘Google rug pull‘. But according to Google, the problem was simply the result a mistake. Regardless, the cause was identified and rectified within a few days, but not before some users (including the technology blog Techdirt) switched to competing services.

About jrivett

Jeff Rivett has worked with and written about computers since the early 1980s. His first computer was an Apple II+, built by his father and heavily customized. Jeff's writing appeared in Computist Magazine in the 1980s, and he created and sold a game utility (Ultimaker 2, reviewed in the December 1983 Washington Apple Pi Journal) to international markets during the same period. Proceeds from writing, software sales, and contract programming gigs paid his way through university, earning him a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) degree at UWO. Jeff went on to work as a programmer, sysadmin, and manager in various industries. There's more on the About page, and on the Jeff Rivett Consulting site.

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