RSS - What is it and How Does it Work?

Jackie Binion | 27 September 2006 |

RSS is an acronym for a group of internet feed formats. It refers to the following standards:

Really Simple Syndication

Rich Site Summary

RDF Site Summary

It is an XML format for syndicating content across the internet. A website that wants to allow other sites to publish some of its content creates an RSS document and registers such a document with an RSS publisher. For the end user, RSS allows one to subscribe to their favorite websites.

By using RSS, a webmaster is able to put content into a standardized format, which can be viewed, organized and displayed on their website through RSS-aware software. Such syndicated content could be news feeds, headlines, news stories, event listings, etc. This information is distributed to subscribers by an XML file called a “web feed,” “RSS feed,” “RSS channel” or “RSS stream.”

Blizzard Internet Marketing uses an RSS feed on its website. The “Recent News” section in the lower right hand corner of the homepage is an RSS feed from the Blizzard Internet Marketing Newsletter website.