RSS - What are the disadvantages of RSS?

There are only a few disadvantages of RSS and the only reason they are being mentioned is because it is relatively new technology.

RSS stands for, Really Simple Syndication, or Rich Site Summary; and is a
basically an article that is republished from another website or blog.

Short of user preference concerns, there are relatively few drawbacks to using RSS, and these are briefly mentioned below.

• RSS feeds do not use email addresses.

Some users prefer getting email updates over RSS feeds. This is strictly a user preference. Because emails are subject to spammers, most users prefer using RSS feeds.

• Not all RSS feeds provide graphics and photographs.

Some web based aggregators do provide for graphics and photos, however, for ease of publication and pithiness; most RSS feeds do not display photos from the original site that announces the update.

• Sometimes the source website's identity can be confusing.

Because RSS feeds don't show the name or URLs of websites or blogs; users can sometimes get confused as to what they are reading and from where it is coming from. Users subscribing to a large number of feeds, fall into this user grievance category.

• Website publishers are unable to determine the number of users that are subscribed to their feeds.

They also have no way of tracking the frequency of user visits.
When users unsubscribe from their feed, publishers are never given a reason, therefore they have no feedback to improve their advertising.

• A good disadvantage is that RSS feeds create a higher traffic demand on servers.

Most users prefer the full update instead of a brief snippet or summary of the update, so they still proceed to access the original website.

• Some sites still do not support RSS.

Although RSS is being supported by more and more websites and blogs, it is still relatively new technology, and many sites still do not support it.