RSS is not dead. It just changed audience
RSS has evolved from a tool for human readers to a valuable resource for AI crawlers. This shift has led to a resurgence in its usage, as machines now rely on RSS for structured content access. Despite its changing audience, the fundamental value of RSS remains intact, providing clarity and structure.
- ▪RSS was originally designed for human readers but has found new life with AI crawlers.
- ▪The majority of traffic on many independent sites now comes from automated systems rather than human visitors.
- ▪Publishers have historically had mixed feelings about RSS due to its direct content delivery without analytics or ad impressions.
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AI in Practice RSS is not dead. It just changed audience. RSS was built for human readers who wanted control. It turns out that description fits AI crawlers perfectly. The format found a second life it never asked for. Rob Hoeijmakers 15 May 2026 • 2 min read Share My RSS feed gets more traffic than my homepage. Not from subscribers with a feed reader open on a Sunday morning. From machines.RSS, Really Simple Syndication, is the quiet pipe that lets you follow a website without visiting it. Old technology, XML-based, pre-social-media, designed in an era when "web application" meant a browser and a human. Publishers quietly stopped promoting it. Google Reader closed.
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