Domains and RSS Services - Perfect Together?

Are RSS services the next business opportunity for domain registrars? Dave Winer believes registrars could be key players in the future of RSS feed management services such as Feedburner, Pheedo and the new FeedPass service, which has prompted renewed debate about the repurposing of feeds. As a FeedBurner user, I love the added functionality it allows me add to my RSS feeds. But I'm also aware that there's huge headache potential if Feeburner fails or is sold. There are serious trust issues in branding my feed with a URL I don't control.

That's where registrars come into the picture. Combining domain management and RSS management would address many of the control issues,  as Dave explains in a post titled How to Compete With FeedBurner.

First, I'd either do a deal with a registrar, become a registrar, or merge or partner with one. It's absolutely essential that the user own the domain that their feed is hosted at, so that, in case of emergency, they can switch to a different hosting service. If they don't own the domain, it doesn't matter how many promises the vendor makes, or how well-intentioned they are, an act of god could result in a blackout of
a huge portion of the RSS network. It's irresponsible to host a large percentage of the net's RSS feeds at one domain. I would set it up so it's the other way around. My hosting service won't host your feed unless you own the domain.

Dave emphasizes that he's not launching such a service, but would invest in one.

Also, in the debate about the merits of FeedPass, both Dave and Mike Arrington of TechCrunch refer to a "major competitor" that will soon launch a service similar to FeedBurner. The teasing invites speculation, so I'll bite. My guess is either Yahoo or VeriSign, which strike me as more likely candidates than Google or Microsoft. It sounds like we'll know soon enough.

  Posted by RichM May 21, 2006 | Permalink | Newsletter

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Domains and RSS Services - Perfect Together? - May 21, 2006





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