Pack Your Feed’s Bags, We’re Moving In With Google

google_feedburner.jpgGoogle is requiring all FeedBurner accounts to be transferred to Google Accounts. All of your FeedBurner accounts must be moved by February 28, 2009 or they will cease to work returning a “404 Not Found” response.

There has been a lot of debate about FeedBurner’s fate when Google acquired it back June of 2007 for somewhere around $100 million.

Personally, I think it’s a little early to start throwing stones. I was looking around Feedburner.com trying to find away to backup my subscriber details when I ran across this explanation that may answer many of our concerns:

Will I lose all my subscribers in this process?

“You should not lose any readers of your feed during this transition process. All feeds.feedburner.com URLs will redirect your readers to feeds hosted by Google. Your readers will continue to receive your feeds. However, the reporting and analytics may take up to a week to adjust to internet traffic changes, so the number of subscribers you see in analytics reports may be lower for a short period of time.“

I can certainly understand the concerns of those blogs fortunate enough to service large feeds. A large part of their livelihood depends on the feeds going out. I’m a little nervous myself about the transfer but we really have little choice. I hope it is just a matter of ‘what we see‘ and not a database disaster. I guess time will tell. I’ll probably make the transfer this weekend unless I hear more bad news on the project. What do you think about the transfer? Is it just getting all googled up into another mess or do you think it’s an improvement?

Related posts by other blogs:

  1. Feedburner Needs To Get It Together
  2. Google Feedburner has Rough Start…

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Brian on January 23, 2009 | Filed Under Featured Articles

24 Comments

Brad West  on January 23rd, 2009

Hey Brian Just saw your Tweet,

I would be nervous to,
Not sure what Google has planned for the future as a big picture. You just hear so many things. If Google were to exclude as many things as we have read about in the last year they would be closed up. We know that is going to happen.

I’m sure all your data will be intact I just don’t see them overlooking anything in that respect.

If you look at most decisions that have ever been made, especially now, they are money driven.

Who always wins at that game
The only way to combat the situation to any extent is strength in numbers. Most people won’t listen to that until its to late.

Such is life
All will be OK
Brad West ~ onomoney

Brad Wests last blog post..American Idol goes to SCARY San Francisco

Brian  on January 23rd, 2009

Good points Brad. I’m not convinced there is a situation to be combat yet. Rumors tend to fly fast when it comes to the Google, Microsoft etc. Much like traditional media, bloggers sometimes post a story without all the facts hoping to be the first. That’s why I’m reluctant to start yelling from the tree tops too early. That’s also why I’ll never be the first to make such an announcement ;)

Wynter Jones  on January 23rd, 2009

I personally like how Google is buying up essential services, only because it makes it super easy to sign into haha :)

Google is as capitalist as any other company, so we can’t blame them on making decisions for money. However they are garnering a huge amount of power over the Internet.

If they continue to buy up all great services, they might just buy the internet and call it “Googlenet”

Wynter Joness last blog post..Christmas Holidays & New Years

Brian  on January 23rd, 2009

Hi Wynter, it’s been a while. I have to admit Googlenet has a ring to it. I thought it would be a perfect domain to grab but someone already has it :(

Brad West  on January 23rd, 2009

I talked a little with Brad Fallon and got the impression that what Google says is the truth. To listen to anyone but Google is just guesses in the wind, unsubstantiated predictions are everywhere and although based on some sort of Google posting some interpretations are off the wall. Sort of like how the bible has been twisted and interpreted from the beginning of time. No one really knows the truth except the wine drinking, cigar smoking, money mongers that wrote it.

Not trying to start a religious war here just making a point that the freedom of speech is a double edged sword. Always take a look at both sides, and take from it what you will. Don’t forget there are three sides of every story, What I said, you said, and the truth.

Brad West ~ onomoney

Brad Wests last blog post..Vimeo for Kids!

Blogging Tips  on January 23rd, 2009

So this is the answer to my unusually low feed count. I hope Google makes a mistake and add another 1K to mine….maybe 2K…. LOL

Yan

Blogging Tipss last blog post..You’ve Only Got 10 Seconds

Gennaro  on January 24th, 2009

I just converted the other day and it went pretty smoothly. The first day all my e-mail subscriptions were gone and some of the rest of the rss, but two days later it was all back.

Not sure if it’s best for one company to control so much especially if you’re using Google Analytics and Adsense, but it’s convenient.

Gennaros last blog post..6 Steps To A Lucky Chinese New Year

Brian  on January 24th, 2009

@Brad: Well put Brad. Guesses in the wind describes a lot of what we get. To be fair, it’s like predicting the weather. We get the facts right just about as often too.

@Yan: That’s right Yan, some mistakes can be good. BTW, did you notice I’m using one of those Elegant Themes? Thanks for the link. I used your affiliate link so make sure you get credit.

@Gennaro: That is exactly what their FAQ said. I’m glad to hear it worked out. I’ll probably do mine later today. That’s a great point about one company controlling so much of our livelihood. I don’t think they’re at risk of going out of business any time soon but it’s possible something goes wrong. Hey, I heard George Bush is looking for a job. What if they hired him? OMG, I’d have to just give up and start hunting in the woods for our food.

@Brad again: Now we have Politics and Religion in the post ;)

Dennis Edell  on January 24th, 2009

I moved yesterday. This morning all 3 chicklets went down a little over half.

I’m more then willing to wait a few days (like I have a choice) and even not post for a few days, before I start getting pissy. LOL

Dennis Edells last blog post..FINAL CALL: $100 Blog Review Contest Ends The 31st!

Brian  on January 24th, 2009

Oh no Dennis, I hope it goes back up! See, that makes me want to wait but like you said we don’t have a choice. I’m sure it will go back up but I wish there was a way to backup the subscriber list. I found where to backup our stats and even the email subscribers but not the entire list.

Here’s how to backup the email subscribers:
Publicize / Email Subscriptions then scroll down to ‘View Subscriber Details’. Once you click that you will see ‘Export: Excel • CSV’.

I’m afraid that wont help you Dennis unless you can still login at Feedburner.com.

Suzanne Franco  on January 24th, 2009

You too huh Yan? I dropped like 150 over night! And they haven’t come back ;( Whaaaazzzzuuup with that?! *SmiLes* Suzanne

Suzanne Francos last blog post..7 Ways to Find Post Ideas

Bash Bosh  on January 24th, 2009

I think that Google wants to improve functionality and integrate most users with their Feed ads! Google feeds uses same system as Feedburner and better integration with AdSense ads!

Bash Boshs last blog post..Use Feed Ads to Boost your Earnings

Brian  on January 24th, 2009

Hi Suzanne, I just made the plunge minutes ago. My chicklet still says 1066 (had to get that on record) but I’m sure it’s going to drop. Here’s what I read on the page right after I transferred:

“It may take up to a week for a feed’s full dose of stats to appear in your Google Account.”

That was from Feedburner. The new site looks just like the old one. I’m glad for that at least.

Thant was from

Dennis Edell  on January 24th, 2009

It will most likely drop for you tomorrow.

Nope, feedburner is dead to you once you switch over.

Dennis Edells last blog post..FINAL CALL: $100 Blog Review Contest Ends The 31st!

Brian  on January 24th, 2009

Hi Bash Bosh, thanks for stopping by. I think it’s going to be an improvement too overall. I haven’t used my AdSense account in so long I had to figure out where it was and how to login. I’ve earned very little with AdSense ads so I dropped it on almost every site a long time ago. I guess I’ll be using it in my feeds now anyway. Who knows, maybe we’ll earn a little more in the end.

Brian  on January 24th, 2009

Wow, it looks like the transfer caused three separate feed blasts to my AWeber list. It wouldn’t be that big of a deal if they weren’t followed by a small string of unsubscribes. They must have thought I would start sending multiple emails everyday.

Dennis Edell  on January 25th, 2009

Everything went back up today.

Dennis Edells last blog post..FINAL CALL: $100 Blog Review Contest Ends The 31st!

Brian  on January 25th, 2009

I’m glad to hear that Dennis. My chicklet only dropped by 16 which is normal anyway.

I did loose several subscribers from some glitch that caused three old feeds to go out twice each. Six emails within minutes would make me consider unsubscribing too ;)

This morning I received a FeedBulletin loaded with problem messages and errors but I have no idea what any of it means. Hopefully it’s just an adjustment or something simple.

Dennis Edell  on January 25th, 2009

Yea mine are still “down” a few in the normal day to day way, but I got my hundred back lol.

What’s a FeedBulletin?

Dennis Edells last blog post..FINAL CALL: $100 Blog Review Contest Ends The 31st!

Brian  on January 25th, 2009

Apparently it’s a reporting service from Feedburner. You see a little bit on it on the front page when you log into the new URL at http://feedburner.google.com. It looks like feedburner is trying to pull up old blog feeds that haven’t been online since 2007. I don’t know why. They are not active accounts and the Blogger/Blogspot blogs were never added to FeedBurner. I’ll know in a little while if my feeds are being sent at all.

Sire  on February 3rd, 2009

Whats taking you guys so long. I moved mine over a month ago without any drama at all. That’s not like you guys to let an Aussie show you up. :D

Sires last blog post..Duplicate Content And Article Theft

Dan from Minnesota Movers  on November 5th, 2009

Interesting that you all were using FeedBurner BEFORE Google… All I know is Google Feedburner. ;)

Brian D. Hawkins Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 7:36 am

That’s alright Dan, we all have to start somewhere.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Interview With Toilets.com Founder Earl Braxton – The Don of Porta John® My ComLuv Profile

Dan from Minnesota Movers Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 5:56 pm

Yes indeed!