Google to shut down Reader web feed application

Company says usage of Google Reader has declined.

Google Inc is to retire Google Reader in July, it said on Thursday, citing declining usage for the application that aggregates content served by web feeds.

"There are two simple reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we are pouring all of our energy into fewer products," Google said in its official blog.

The Reader application was launched in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. The service will be retired on July 1.

Google said users and developers interested in alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with "Google Takeout" service over the course of the next four months.