Mark Nottingham calls for revitalization of web feeds technology

Mark Nottingham, a prominent figure in Internet standards development, published a detailed analysis of the current state of web feeds technology and proposed several areas for improvement. Nottingham, who has over two decades of experience contributing to core Internet technologies, highlighted the need to revitalize RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and Atom feeds to meet modern web requirements.

Nottingham, currently serving as Standards Lead at Cloudflare, began by reflecting on the history of web feeds. He noted that more than twenty years ago, these technologies were at the forefront of open, direct producer-to-user information distribution. According to Nottingham, despite the lack of recent attention, the feed ecosystem continues to flourish, with many feeds still in use across various platforms.

The article identified several key areas where RSS and related technologies need improvement:

1. Community Development: Nottingham emphasized the importance of fostering communication between implementers of feed technology. He drew parallels to the early 2000s state of the HTTP protocol, suggesting that establishing a dedicated working group and organizing informal community gatherings could help revitalize the feed implementer community.
2. User Agency Enhancement: Nottingham argued for a clearer definition of what constitutes a "good" feed reader, focusing on user privacy and security. He referenced his earlier work on privacy considerations for web feed readers, highlighting the need for a common understanding of feed reader functionality.
3. Interoperability Testing: The lack of predictable, compatible behavior across feed readers was identified as a significant issue. Nottingham pointed out that this variability limits the use cases for web feeds and called for the creation of interoperability tests to address these challenges.
4. Best Practices for Publishers: Nottingham stressed the need for stronger and more current guidance for publishers on how to effectively distribute their feed content. He suggested updating existing tutorials and sharing good patterns for feed implementation.
5. Browser Integration: The article highlighted the removal of native feed support from web browsers as a significant setback. Nottingham argued for the reintegration of feed support directly into browsers, emphasizing the privacy implications of relying on third-party extensions for this functionality.
6. Authenticated Feeds: Nottingham discussed the challenges of implementing subscription-based feeds, suggesting the exploration of more secure authentication mechanisms that could potentially involve trusted third-party feed readers.
7. Publisher Engagement: Recognizing the limited feedback publishers receive about feed usage, Nottingham proposed investigating privacy-preserving ways to provide publishers with audience insights. He suggested leveraging newer privacy technologies like Privacy Preserving Measurement and Oblivious HTTP to achieve this goal.

Nottingham's analysis drew from his extensive experience in Internet standards development. He has chaired the HTTP Working Group since 2007, overseeing the evolution of HTTP/2, and has also chaired the QUIC Working Group, which developed HTTP/3. His involvement in Internet governance bodies, including the W3C Board of Directors and the Internet Architecture Board, lends weight to his observations and recommendations.

The article concluded with a call to action, inviting interested parties to engage in discussions about improving web feeds. Nottingham directed readers to an IETF mailing list he had previously set up for this purpose, encouraging subscription and participation.

Key facts

• The analysis was published on August 25, 2024.
• Web feeds technology (RSS and Atom) has been in use for over 20 years.
• Mark Nottingham has more than 20 years of experience in Internet standards development.
• Nottingham currently serves as Standards Lead at Cloudflare.
• He has chaired the HTTP Working Group since 2007.
• Nottingham identified seven main areas for improvement in web feeds technology.
• An IETF mailing list has been set up to discuss web feeds improvement.
• The article references earlier work on privacy considerations for web feed readers.
• Nottingham drew parallels between the current state of web feeds and the early 2000s state of the HTTP protocol.
• The article highlights the removal of native feed support from web browsers as a significant issue.