I have been experimenting with my personalized Google page for about a year, but I never made it my default homepage until about a month ago when I discovered that I could turn it into a personalized RSS reader.

The main reason that Google has been my homepage for the past eight years – besides the fact that is the most effective search engine on planet – is because the standard Google homepage loads so fast. That’s also why I had been reluctant to switch to the personalized Google page, because it used to load much slower than the standard Google page. That’s no longer the case.

The personalized Google page, which was rebranded iGoogle on Monday, now loads as fast as the standard Google page, which is amazing to me since it has a lot more on it. iGoogle has a number of options for adding widgets and other content to your personalized page, but the primary way that I use it is as an RSS reader.

I have all of the TechRepublic RSS feeds on my default home tab and I have set up separate tabs for Tech, Sports, and Blogs feeds. This has worked out great. It has put all of my favorite RSS feeds at my fingertips and I have found myself using them more than I have with any RSS reader that I’ve used in the past. 

Here’s a look at my iGoogle page:

iGoogle 

One quick aside … the name iGoogle has obvious echoes of Apple products such as iMac, iPod, and iTunes. However, since Google CEO Eric Schmidt sits on the Apple Board of Directors I doubt that Apple will sue Google any time soon. 

Have you tried iGoogle? Have you found the RSS features as quick and effective as I have?