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The next API Google opens to developers will be for its RSS feed reading service, Google Reader.

Technorati's Niall Kennedy posted his exclusive follow-up to his assessment of Google Reader's backend. API access to Google Reader could be publicly available as quickly as January.

Kennedy cited Google's Jason Shellen and engineer Chris Wetherell in confirming the report. Shellen joined Google after it purchased his employer, Blogger developer Pyra Labs. Shellen now serves as product manager for Google Reader.

In the post, Kennedy wrote the API would include "synchronization, feed-level and item-level tagging, per-item read and unread status, as well as rich media enclosure and metadata handling."

Currently, RSS usage has been pegged at about 6 percent of Internet users, according to Pew Internet and American Life project. Products like the Google Reader and several other feed reading and aggregating services face a significant challenge in 2006, as Microsoft brings RSS support to Outlook 12, Internet Explorer 7, and the Vista operating system.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.