Information monitoring/watch

11 November 2025

While monitoring is primarily a matter of human intervention that adds value and provides useful content for decision-making, the process revolves around tools designed to support the various stages. Among these tools, aggregators play a key role in collecting and processing information. Here are a few things you should know to better understand what they are, what criteria to use when choosing your tool, and how to optimize its use.

 

What is an aggregator?

According to the OQLF, an aggregator is a "software or a web application that allows Internet users to subscribe to syndication feeds, to automatically receive new content from the listed feeds, from multiple sources, grouped together in a single window, and to read it as soon as it becomes available. In the context of monitoring, the Internet user is the person who performs this activity, the syndication feeds are RSS feeds, and the sources are organizations, databases, or periodicals relevant to your field of activity and duly selected.

In other words, it is a tool that brings together your information sources, alerts you to new content, and saves you from having to check them one by one. But it also goes beyond this collection function. An aggregator is an essential aid in the context of information overload or infobesity, a good prelude to a certain degree of automation in information gathering, and a facilitator in terms of responsiveness. All of this serves your field of activity.

 

How to choose your aggregator?

There are countless tools available, and the landscape is constantly changing, so you may be tempted to equip yourself beyond your needs. To avoid mental overload, the necessary and sometimes laborious mastery of multiple learning curves, and the potential duplication of information while optimizing the management of risks of loss, it is best to choose the tool that is right for you. What criteria should you consider?

  • User-friendliness and ergonomics: It is well known that we often only use a small portion of the potential of the tools at our disposal. The user-friendliness and ergonomics of a new tool will help users get started, reduce the learning curve, and encourage long-term use. This includes the layout of the dashboard, the interface language, the design of the features, ease of navigation, etc. User comments provide relevant information in this regard.
  • The types of sources covered: since not all sources offer an RSS feed, you need to be able to monitor a web page from within your aggregator. In addition, some aggregators offer the ability to follow social networks, while others do not.
  • Features – Dashboard customization, feed management, categorization (keywords and folders), filtering, search engine, collaboration, connectivity: these are all elements to consider based on your current and medium-term needs.
  • Cost: some tools offer free versions or trial periods. Given that these offers cover limited features, compare them with the list of functions required for your monitoring activities. If necessary, consider the cost of the professional version within your overall monitoring budget.
  • Compatibility with your other monitoring tools: Beyond collection, the monitoring process includes processing and analyzing information and distributing deliverables. If you already have a digital monitoring ecosystem, evaluate possible connections with the aggregators in question.
  • Possible outputs: Does the aggregator allow you to generate RSS feeds or newsletters? What are your needs and plans in this regard?
  • Artificial intelligence support offered—Recommendation of new sources, automatic extraction, information synthesis, automation: tools are constantly evolving in this area, but by distinguishing from the outset between necessary and incidental support, you will make a more informed choice.
  •  Export options for all managed feeds: to prevent an aggregator from becoming obsolete or to deal with its discontinuation by its developer, check that your RSS feed library can be exported using the OPML format. 

 

5 aggregators to consider*

As with RSS feed readers, the technological landscape is constantly changing. Here we discuss five tools that are widely used at the time of publication, excluding monitoring platforms that are often intended for large organizations with significant financial resources.

For each of these tools, we outline a few distinctive features.

Feedbro: free, launched in 2013, Feedbro is an extension for Chrome, Vivaldi, Edge, Brave, and Firefox browsers. It allows users to monitor multiple social networks, but does not allow them to archive the information collected.

Feedly: launched in 2008, compatible with all browsers, with an intuitive AI-powered interface, it is one of the most widely used aggregators. It is suitable for all monitoring activities and can manage a large volume of sources. 

FreshRSS: free software translated into 15 languages, a free self-hosted solution, FreshRSS is primarily suited to tech-savvy individuals working solo.

Inoreader: launched in 2013, this aggregator is widely known and used in the world of monitoring professionals. Thanks to its intuitive interface and sorting features, it is suitable for all types of profiles.

New Sloth: a fairly expensive tool, New Sloth offers a streamlined interface. It features a function that groups all articles on the same topic and automatically extracts entities.

It should be noted that Netvibes, widely used since its creation in 2005, was discontinued in June 2025 by its owner, Dassault Systèmes, which had acquired it in 2012.

Would you like to stay up to date on tools in the field of monitoring? Peruse the Répertoire d’outils numériques de veille.

 

Harnessing the full potential of your aggregator

Once you have chosen and tested your tool, you will want to exploit its full potential. Here are four ways to do so:

  • Subscribe to the RSS feed of the blog for the tool that caught your attention. This will allow you to stay up to date on its development. For example: the blog offered by the designers of Feedly.
  • Consult guides produced by monitoring professionals: based on experimentation by curious and passionate individuals, they will save you valuable time. For example: the Inoreader tutorial [in French] produced by the INESSS monitoring team.
  • Watch tutorials offered by serious Internet users determined to popularize the features of the tools. Choose the most recent ones to reflect the current situation.
  • Call on the expertise of information professionals, either for training purposes or to entrust them with the task. At Cogniges, we support you in your monitoring project, whether it's implementing it or giving it new momentum.

* The tools mentioned in this list are provided as examples. They are not necessarily endorsed by Cogniges. At the time of publication, all tools are available online; however, we cannot guarantee their continued availability.

 

Also worth reading

 

References

Berthelette, J. et Bélanger, C. (2024 - ). Répertoire d’outils numériques de veille. Communauté de pratique de veille en santé et services sociaux du Québec.  

UQAM. Service des bibliothèques. (2022). La pratique de la veille : automatiser la veille et créer une valeur ajoutée.