Dave Winer says: “(Google) didn’t put anything into RSS before they started to take out.”
(Background for my non-RSS-geek friends: Dave authored RSS – which is,
strictly for purposes of this explanation, the DVD format of “simple
XML-based syndication.” Alternatively (and pointedly), Google chose to
eschew RSS and support Atom, which is for this explanation, the Sony
Laserdisc format. Google still doesn’t offer such basic RSS-savvy
features as “news alerts” via RSS. (Topix.net does.)
Anyway, Dave’s point is an observation that Google’s first corporate
embrace of RSS is to hack a way for Google ads to run in RSS
feeds — a rather “crass” way to enter the party, says Dave.)