Offering RSS Feeds: Does It Help to Gain Competitive Advantage?

• Main Author: MA, Dan
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2009
• Subjects: Communication Technology and New Media; Computer Sciences; Management Information Systems
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/448; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/1447/viewcontent/OfferingRSSFeeds_07_04_2009.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Nowadays, many Websites have adopted the really simple syndication (RSS) technology to deliver online content to visitors. In this paper, I build an analytical model to examine how the offering of RSS feeds impact the number of visitors, total traffic load, and profit of Websites in a competitive setting. I show that although RSS can always attract more visitors, it may reduce the Website's profit. Interestingly, in a competitive market there are cases that the RSS feeds hurt the offering Website but benefit the competing Website instead. The conditions under which these will happen are derived. I also study the simultaneous RSS-adoption game and show that different equilibrium outcomes will appear under different parameter combinations. Applying my findings to the practice, I suggest that offering RSS feeds could become a competitive disadvantage, and that certain types of Websites, such as Websites providing free content, should not offer RSS feeds.