I have become an RSS junkie. The potential is there. What are we seeing from the big guys?

] I've been following what the 3 big Internet companies
] have been doing with RSS and I largely agree with Dave
] Winer's recent assessment:
]
]] "Yahoo is dashing in front, with Microsoft close behind.
]] Why isn't Google in the race?"
]
] Yahoo has been by far the most proactive company of the 3
] this year. Microsoft has shown glimpses of what they're
] plotting
]
] But Google hasn't done anything with their Blogger unit
] and they seem reluctant to add RSS functionality to their
] product line
...
] This is another hint that Microsoft will build in RSS
] functionality as part of the plumbing for their next OS
] (Longhorn). It was clear from the start.com prototypes
] too that Microsoft's strategy with RSS is to integrate
] integrate integrate. They want RSS to be baked into their
] products and particularly their OS, so you don't need to
] download web apps or subscribe to web services like
] Bloglines.
...
] Yahoo on the other hand is more about utilizing RSS as a
] media and content enabler
...
] So what's Google up to with RSS?...
] Most of their huge take of advertising revenue comes to
] them via webpages - their own pages, plus external
] webpages that use Google Adsense. So Google wants to
] ensure that revenue doesn't get siphoned off if they make
] content available via RSS.
]
] It's interesting that the Gmail 'Web Clips' feature
] currently has adverts alternating with the content.
] So Google is actively experimenting with ways to monetize RSS.
]
] Once Google has gotten a handle on the revenue-generation
] options, then they'll commit to RSS and roll it out to
] the users.

Interesting if true, because this represents both a dramatic departure from some of their existing beta strategies (Maps.Google and Google News) as well as some of the first evidence of them ignoring a shiny techno toy in favor of a business model. Not necessarily that this is a real departure from how they operate internally, but rather from the public personality they try to convey. Except the silence is par for the course.

Read/Write Web: RSS and The Big 3