Sometime over this past weekend, the Google Reader service - Google's Web-based RSS feed reader - reportedly went haywire for several users, who inundated the Google Reader forum with complaints about intermittent service.

According to the complaints issued by the affected Google Reader users, service with their accounts became sporadic during the weekend. While some users complained that their "feeds don't mark as read;" others said that "reader subscription and folders mysteriously reverted back to old settings." Moreover, while some complaints on the Google Reader forum said that "feeds keep refreshing;" a few users also complained that their "subscriptions keep disappearing."

The complaints underscored a panic-like situation for the affected users, especially since Google did not make any response to the complaints till Monday. The panic of the affected users was quite understandable, given the fact that even though Google Reader does not have a huge following, it does have some dedicated users. The service essentially enables the users to subscribe to as many RSS feeds as they like; with all the feeds then housed in one browser window, giving a Gmail-like feel.

Meanwhile, though Google's response to the Google Reader issue took quite a while, the company did acknowledge that there was a problem with the service. Noting that the flaw had now been fixed, a Google spokesperson told CNET: "For everyone who was affected, we apologize for any inconvenience you experienced."