   #copyright

Aggregator

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Websites and the Internet

   An aggregator or news aggregator or feed reader is client software that
   uses a web feed to retrieve syndicated web content such as weblogs,
   podcasts, vlogs, and mainstream mass media websites, or in the case of
   a search aggregator, a customized set of search results.

Functions

   Aggregators reduce the time and effort needed to regularly check
   websites for updates, creating a unique information space or "personal
   newspaper." Once subscribed to a feed, an aggregator is able to check
   for new content at user-determined intervals and retrieve the update.
   The content is sometimes described as being "pulled" to the subscriber,
   as opposed to "pushed" with email or IM. Unlike recipients of some
   "pushed" information, the aggregator user can easily unsubscribe from a
   feed.

   Aggregator features are being built into portal sites such as My Yahoo!
   and Google; modern web browsers; e-mail programs like Mozilla
   Thunderbird; Apple's iTunes, which serves as a podcast aggregator and
   other applications. Devices such as mobile phones and Tivo video
   recorders (already aggregating television programs) also incorporate
   XML aggregators.

   The aggregator provides a consolidated view of the content in a single
   browser display or desktop application. Such applications are also
   referred to as RSS readers, feed readers, feed aggregators, news
   readers or search aggregators.

   The syndicated content an aggregator will retrieve and interpret is
   usually supplied in the form of RSS or other XML-formatted data, such
   as RDF/XML or Atom.

Clouds

   A small number of news aggregators have the ability to register to
   clouds, a web service that notifies the aggregator of updates to a
   feed, eliminating the need for periodic pulling. This approach attempts
   to produce a more efficient use of bandwidth, though the overhead
   associated with registering a cloud can mean no net savings. It also
   introduces issues of scalability and a single point of failure among
   others. In the time since the cloud concept was introduced in 2000,
   very few sources have implemented it.

Categories

Online version

   Online versions of this type of software are websites selling or
   providing aggregation services for free; these sites are typically
   provided by ISPs and internet portals. The RSS feeds allow users to
   check recently changed versions in comparison to previous updates. This
   allows only 'fresh data' to be viewed, reducing bandwidth demands on
   the provider's hardware and users. Because the aggregator is online, it
   can be accessed anywhere by any user who is connected to the internet.
   More advanced ways of integrating feeds are provided by Ajax desktops,
   which allow users to aggregate OPML files, email services and documents
   in Google Docs & Spreadsheets as well as feeds in a single interface.

   Lately, a large number of online news aggregators made their way on our
   Internet search results. The success of the technology comes from two
   perspectives:
     * first - a large amount of online content can be put together in a
       short period of time and that is what most of search engines out
       there like;
     * second – the advertising capabilities can be enormous as the ad
       content can be delivered more targeted and “by the second”.

Computer version

   The desktop version of this type of software is designed to satisfy the
   task of controlling subscriptions and supervising the RSS feeds that
   the user has selected. The GUI of this type of software is normally a
   three-panel composition-like communication software like for instance
   an e-mail client, but browser versions are available -- normally run on
   a LAN. Publication is made through web-servers so that global access is
   possible. Additional facilities may be integrated into aggregators such
   as audio players, blog editors, internet browsers and e-mail clients.

OEM/Meta news feeds

   These services (e.g. All Headline News (AHN) and Moreover) provide
   aggregate content to news portals and search engines, not necessarily
   direct to end users. Usually, to integrate feeds to a HTML page a
   combination of JavaScript/ XML/AJAX technology is used.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggregator"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
