RSS feed blocking readers

hi nikolaiblackienz​ 

Good questions yes, many people have run into the same problem recently. Often the root issue isn’t with your RSS reader but with the site you’re subscribing to (or how it’s protected).

Why?

Many websites now use services like Cloudflare or other web-application firewalls (WAFs) to block automated bot access. That includes many RSS-reader bots and scrapers.

When your RSS reader (like Feeder) attempts to fetch the feed, the firewall can treat that as suspicious or malicious bot traffic — commonly returning HTTP 403 or “bot blocked” errors.

Unfortunately this isn’t something the reader app can always fix — it usually requires a change on the website’s side (firewall or server settings).

What ?

1.Contxx the website owner / webmaster

If you have a way to reach the site owner (contact form, support email, etc.), send a short note asking them to allow RSS-reader bots (or disable bot-blocking for /rss, /feed, or feed URLs).
You can even use a template like this (based on what Feeder recommends):

2.Use alternative RSS readers or self-hosted aggregators

Because of blocks, some open-source or self-hosted readers might fare better:

• Inoreader (cloud-based)
• QuiteRSS (desktop, cross-platform)
• Tiny Tiny RSS (self-hosted)

Because they might use different user-agents or crawling strategies, sometimes they can succeed where others fail (especially if the block is based on user-agent or fetch frequency).

3.Whom ?

If you want to report the issue (to a website or to your reader’s support), here’s a quick outline:

• To website owner: Use their “Contxx us” or support email; ask them to whitelist legitimate RSS reader bots (provide bot IPs or user-agents, if known).
• To RSS reader support: Provide the feed URL + full error message (403 / blocked / “bot” flagged). Their support team may guide you or suggest alternatives.

If you are referring the tech comm site, you know whom to contact