Open RSS feeds not working in Inoreader
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Emailed Inoreader support to communicate the inability to subscribe to certain Open RSS feeds in Inoreader.
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Inoreader support responded and verified that the banning of their IP is why RSS feed subscriptions are being blocked.
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Verified that Inoreader is making batches of requests to multiple Open RSS URLs in a very short time span, which is causing Inoreader's IP addresses to be banned automatically by our systems.
We've provided Inoreader with evidence from one of their many IP addresses that has made over 18 requests at the exact same millisecond. We've communicated that this is the reason for the IP(s) being banned, as it slows down the Open RSS server and degrades the performance of RSS feeds for other Open RSS users. We've provided Inoreader with instructions on how to avoid their IP addresses(s) from getting banned.
In the meantime, we've temporarily manually unbanned the particular IP address that is preventing subscriptions, to avoid disrupting the functionality in Inoreader. But we've advised Inoreader that the issue must be addressed or the IP will have to be banned again, to protect the quality and performance of Open RSS for other users.
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Inoreader support responded that the requests from their IP in our logs don't look normal, that they will look into the issue, and get back in touch.
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Reached out to Inoreader about the status.
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Inoreader support responded and is still unable to find the reason for the odd behavior. We've provided Inoreader with detailed information and offered assistance if necessary. Until Inoreader can resolve the issue, its users will still be impacted.
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Followed up with Inoreader about their still making aggressive requests which is causing it to be blocked by our systems.
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Followed up again with Inoreader about their progress to a resolution.
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Inoreader responds that they will no longer spend any more time on resolving the issue.
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Offered Inoreader more options for a resolution.
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Determined that Inoreader is being automatically blocked by our systems due to:
- Making excessive requests to our server using rotated IP addresses to evade our systems and gain unfettered access without detection
- Making tons of unnecessary requests across all feeds in the background, even when its users are not even reading the feed content
- Re-requesting content for the same feed right after having requested it just minutes before
- Ignoring when our systems inform Inoreader that it's making too many requests and needs to slow down
- Making requests across other unrelated Open RSS feeds, all at the same time, when a user subscribes to a feed
- Pretending to be a web scraper and making requests across all pages of the openrss.org site, many of which aren't RSS feeds
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Sent Inoreader an update to request that the issues be resolved urgently. Also communicated that more IPs from the application are being blocked because Inoreader is still making an excessive amount of unnecessary requests that significantly slow down the service for other users.
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Inoreader responded that they will not update the application to resolve issues.
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Inoreader has always negatively impacted Open RSS in a way that significantly slows down the service for users due to its issues. Despite this, Open RSS has always fully unblocked the application after a waiting period to give the application time to address its problems.
However, Inoreader is now actively blocking Open RSS feeds. It shows a "Service is discontinued" error, and requiring its users to contact Inoreader directly for them unblock the service.
Inoreader has also posted a message that we're blocking the application specifically, which is misleading.
Open RSS would never block feed requests just because they come from a specific product. Our systems will automatically block any application or software that makes excessive requests that doesn't follow the guidelines, to avoid slowing down the service for our users.
Inoreader's messaging also says that they've made efforts to comply with our requirements. This isn't entirely true. While it is true that Inoreader has disregarded our suggestions and attempted to make their own minor adjustments to fix the issues, those attempts failed at resolving them. We've given them specific steps and information on how to address the issues, which they have refused.
Given these unfortunate circumstances, we recommend that any Inoreader user who wishes to continue using Open RSS feeds consider moving to another RSS reader that doesn't block its users from using RSS services freely.
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Inoreader is continuing to block its users from using Open RSS feeds in the application and spreading falsehoods through its in-app messaging. Inoreader is not currently blocked and Open RSS has always been willing to work with any company to resolve issues with its abuse of the Open RSS service. Inoreader has refused our assistance, ceased all communication, and continues to make false statements in a malicious attempt to destroy the reputation of the Open RSS organization.
We have placed an announcement at the top of all feeds to make sure all users of Inoreader are aware of a more truthful assessment of the issue.
All of Inoreader's issues negatively impacting the service, along with explanations and actionable solutions can found here.
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Inoreader has removed the defamatory banners and messaging from the application but is still silently blocking its users from subscribing to Open RSS feeds. The following pages will be displayed when attempting to subscribe to any Open RSS feed in the application.
Despite this unfortunate situation, we are still willing to work with Inoreader to provide it assistance with its issues and excessive requests that cause significant degradation to the Open RSS service for other users. We've extended an offer to resolve the issue multiple times, none of which have been accepted.
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The service infrastructure has changed significantly and now absorbs most of the excessive requests from Inoreader that used to trigger restrictions. Reached out to Inoreader again to request that it remove the blocks it has in place that are preventing its users from accessing Open RSS feeds and offered any assistance needed to do so.