Has PostRank been integrated into the New Google Reader?

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When I opened Google Reader just now, I discovered that the PostRank scores are front and centre:

Is this just because I installed a PostRank extension eons ago? Or has Google now integrated PostRank (which they acquired earlier this year) as a core element of Google Reader? It would be wonderful if the latter turned out to be true and the ingenuity of Ilya Grigorik and his PostRank team lives on in Google Reader.

UPDATE: Ilya Grigorik reached out to me last night to let me know that, no, PostRank has not been integrated into the new Google Reader. It’s the PostRank browser plug-in that is displaying more prominently in the Google Reader’s new format.

That’s too bad. PostRank was a very useful tool and, for a few hours, I hoped that it was now baked into the standard Google Reader feature set. Well, I guess I can keep wishing for this…

The New Google Reader: A Step Forward

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It happened. Finally. After several years of little change for my favourite RSS reader, Google Reader, it’s out with the old and in with the new this morning.

When I signed onto Google Reader today, I was greeted with this message:

 

With the new version of Reader, I’ll be able to share interesting content publicly via my Google+ ID. Or I can share them only with circles that I have selected as being interested in specific subjects. I also can add my own comment to highlight what I find most interesting or remarkable in the article.

This is all good news to me. I’ve been a consistent user of Google+ since it launched. And I’ve curated circles of people I follow by subject area. So, I’m getting great value from my time on Google+. Now, with the integration of Google Reader sharing features, it will be easier for me add content that I find worthwhile – and hopefully that will draw more people to follow me on Google+.

So, it’s goodbye to some of the old sharing features. And it’s hello to sharing and promoting content via Google+. I like it.