Google Chrome Will Require Law Firms to Clean Up Embarrassing RSS Feeds

As I blogged a couple weeks ago, Google is making a strong statement in favor of blogs, RSS and open publishing, by adding RSS to its Chrome browser.

Users will be able to hit an RSS link built into the browser in order to see all future updates from the site. A slick feature for law firm blogs, of which there are many, and legal news from law firm websites, of which there is a lot of.

A lot of law firms don’t know what RSS is though. As I wrote ten days ago, law firms aren’t operating websites (which sites include blogs and news sections) with RSS sites. Their content can’t be seen in news readers nor in Google Chrome’s RSS reader.

Crazier yet is that the RSS feeds of many law firms, including some very large firms, aren’t set up properly.

The busiest and most influential people, the ones who use RSS and RSS readers can’t get their content.

More embarrassing is when a law firm broadcasts that its RSS feeds are set up improperly. Users see a hodgepodge of feeds that have been made so complicated they’ll not be used.

Users of the RSS feeds see it, while the firm’s lawyers, marketing professionals and website development folks don’t.

Hard to say you’re a tech savvy and innovative law firm when you cannot stay up with your peers on something as relatively simple as RSS.

Poorly set up RSS feeds may have been okay when Google was not shining a light on RSS as it is now. No longer.

Law firms should turn to the lawyers and other legal professionals in the firm and find out who regularly uses a RSS reader for following sources and subjects in the news. What do they think of the firm’s RSS feeds?

Ask some clients and influencers to get a feel.

Google is making a big statement here. Not only for RSS, but also for open law, as opposed to traditional legal publishing.

You’ll want your news and insight to be included in this growing body of open law. And not to look foolish in your attempt to do so.