Feed Count Chaos! Transfer Your FeedBurner Account to Google Now

Jan 21, 2009
18 Comments

You might have already known this, but Google bought FeedBurner a while ago. Like a Boa Constrictor unhinging its jaws to swallow a young calf, Google has been moving FeedBurner data over to Google’s vast data centers, and the transfer is nearing completion.

How do we know? Because nearly everyone’s feed counts fell through the floor in the last couple days.

What can you do? 

Switch your FeedBurner account over to your Google account. 

You have no choice, other than dropping feed redirection altogether and just going with your default blog software feeds. Google states that all FeedBurner accounts need to be switched over to Google accounts by the end of February. 

How do you do it?

I’m not going to tell you. But not because I’m mean. It’s because I don’t have to. :) One of the blogosphere’s more talented and experienced designers, Michael Martin (yes, I know, weird, huh?) has spelled out the process for you with pretty screenshots and everything: How to make the move from FeedBurner to Google.

You also want to check out Google’s FAQ on moving your account.

Advantages

Here’s what Google is promising from the FeedBurner/Google integration when it’s finished:

  • Feeds by email has been improved by shareing the same email delivery backend as other Google products.
  • Easier management of feed email subscribers.
  • Feed analytics will remain the same or be improved.
  • More Reliable.

I’m especially looking forward to the “more reliable” part.

  • I moved over to the Google service quite some time back and my count has gone from well over 100,000 to zero! It's been there for three days now.
  • Thanks for this news and thanks for letting us know, no wonder my feedburner count has slowly decreased. I save those web you provided and share it with all my social bookmarking friends. Thanks again!!
  • Rob
    Very useful stuff. I'm still trying to figure out how to get something out of this Google Feedburner, but to this point, my problem is mostly due to a lack of traffic. ;)

    Thanks for the tips,


    Rob
  • I find the drops interesting - some not at all, others by about half, and some coming up as zero. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for it.

    It'll be interesting to see how this plays out...
  • Again, you've given me the answer I needed exactly when I needed it - thanks Micheal! Heading over to Michael's site now!
  • Thanks for pointing this out. I followed the links for detailed instructions and just moved my feeds. If I can do it, anyone can!
  • Thank you for the alert, Michael! It helped to prevent Steve from panicking. I love Google's Analytics, so I bet they will do great things with feedburner.
  • @Amanda - that's what I'm hoping for, too. In a big way.
  • First - it took seconds with the play by play you linked to..thanks other Michael.
    Second - as always, great info from Remarkablogger on how to stay ahead of the curve. Your feed is one that I never miss taking a peek at! Thanks Tara
  • Thanks for this! I was wondering what was going on with Feedburner's counts. I'd planned to move my feeds to Google in a few days when I have more time to fiddle and fuss. If it's an easy-peasy, maybe I should just bite the bullet. As Virgil said, "fortune favors the brave." LOL
  • I'm wondering if maybe the original feedburner numbers weren't accurate in the first place. If they were trying to get them from everywhere, there's risk of overlap.
  • Yeah, the low feed count is embarrassing, so I've removed the feed count chicklet till things are back to normal. :P
  • I switched my feeds to Google Account a long time ago but my feed count is also messed up. Any clue on how to fix it?
  • @Mohsin - It's in Google's hands. Everybody's feed count is messed up, right now. :(

    Of course, if the error were one of higher counts, rather than lower, I don't think people would be complaining so much. :)
  • Thanks for the link there Michael, and more importantly, the awesome complements! All chuffed to hear that from as accomplished a blogger as you :D

    I'm hoping the new service will be more reliable as well. I noticed in their FAQ page a little note about fixing past "anomalies", so I suppose that's a good start into fixing the little hicoughs that FeedBurner tends to get. :)
  • @Michael - No problem. Great job on that how-to post, so I'm happy to send people your way. :)
  • I've already done this and noticed an increase in alerts about my feed from the feedmedic service from feedburner. I hope this is just a glitch during the migration, but it is one to watch.
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