Google to Buy FeedBurner?
May 18, 2007 by Jayvee Fernandez
Filed under Computers
Rumor has it that Google will buy FeedBurner after closing out the DoubleClick deal. The two synergies presented by such an acquisition are self-evident.
1) Feed monetization – Google wants to put AdSense in feeds, and FeedBurner already puts ads in feeds.
2) Feed analytics – Google recently updated its web analytics offering, and Feedburner provides feed analytics.
One issue I do have with FeedBurner is that its ugly permalink redirects, designed to capture clickthrough data, don’t effectively pass on Google juice in republished feeds. As a FeedBurner and Google Analytics user myself, I hope Google uses its analytics expertise to resolve this issue.
Ugly permalinks aside, this deal would be great news. Providing established platforms to analyze and monetize RSS, i.e. Analytics and AdSense, would only speed RSS adoption.
New opportunities for small bloggers who have AdSense accounts but were excluded from the Feedburner feedvertising program because of low subscriber base.