Google Reader, the web-based aggregator powered by the Mountain View-based company Google, is currently unusable due to what seems to be an unexpected error in the way the service handles feeds. Starting this morning, Google Reader is not able to open some feeds, while others work just like anytime before. "Sorry, an unexpected condition has occurred which is preventing Google Reader from fulfilling the request," the error message displayed once a feed cannot be opened reads.

It seems like I'm not the only one who cannot access Google Reader at this time because lots of other users reported the same glitch in a special Google Groups discussion created a few hours ago.

"Since this morning Google Reader cannot read most of my feeds, I get the error message 'Sorry, an unexpected condition has occurred which is preventing Google Reader from fulfilling the request'" one user explains. "Google Reader is also problematic for me ... no feeds have updated in hours, and I've got 2 feeds stuck there which say they have entries but won't show up," another confirms the problem.

At the time of writing this article, there is no statement or official explanation concerning the glitch from a Google employee. There's not much to do but wait a little bit until the Google Reader team fixes the problem because the company has already been informed.

Google Reader was officially launched on October 2005 and, after approximately two years of beta status, the web-based aggregator evolved to the final product stage. The first major update of Google Reader was rolled out in September 2006, when Google also debuted a brand new interface for the service which is now the default appearance for all its users. Moreover, Google implemented offline support a few months ago, using the Google Gears technology which allows the service collect feeds to be read without an Internet connection.