The guys over at Signal Vs. Noise have changed their RSS feed and are now including advertisements with posts. They are testing a new service offered by Feedburner.

This is the post that announced the change and the response has been fast and furious. Some have been supportive saying things like “It was bound to happen.” I think there is a very vocal contingent who is very upset and disappointed with the change. While everyone expected ad-supported feeds to be a progression, I don’t they expected SvN to be at the forefront as a beta tester. I think many thought you would never see something like this on SvN.

From the responses by SvN, they seem to be digging their heels in. They feel they can do what they want.

This is a perfect example of how customers are the ones who own the perception of a company. People have a vision of what SvN is. Ads in feeds doesn’t seems to match well with that customer-held perception. Do something that doesn’t match that perception and you run a great risk of alienating some of your greatest supporters.

I am waiting to see what happens next…case study in progress…