Why does Google Reader use up so much memory?

Question

I'm running the dev version of Chrome and just found out I could see the memory usage of every tab (press shift + ESC to find out yourself).

Turns out the Shockwave Flash plugin uses 240 MB of memory and 27% of CPU while having open Google Reader. Killing this page brings it down to 50 MB. I reckon it builts up after reading through about 100 feeds.

So my question is: why does it take up so much memory and what should I do to diminish it?

Why I care? I often don't restart my browser (or laptop for that matter) and keep the Google Reader tab open for long periods of time. The memory does start to add up that way. Plus I have the feeling, perhaps incorrect, that it slows things down as well looking at the CPU usage.

Side note: using Chrome 4 on Windows 7 (32 bit)

Answer 1

what should I do to diminish it?

It seems your woes will be addressed very soon:

Like other browsers, Chrome and Chromium can get a little RAM-hungry after extended browsing sessions. By adding the --purge-memory-button switch to your command line, you'll get exactly that -- a purge memory button on the Task Manager screen.

Once you've made the change, your shortcut's target should look like this (on Windows, of course):

C:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\Chromium\Application\chrome.exe --purge-memory-button

Press shift + ESC after you've been browsing for a little while in Chromium top bring up the task manager. Press the purge button, and you'll notice several of your memory figures drop (some quite drastically).

This is a fairly recent addition to the Chromium nightly builds, so it has yet to arrive in the developer or beta versions of Chrome. Keep your eyes peeled, though - it's sure to arrive soon.

Source: downloadsquad.com

Answer 2

All that is probably embedded flash videos in your feeds.

My question to you would be, why worry about diminishing it from a RAM standpoint? 240MB for a whole bunch of cached flash videos isn't exactly a lot.

Answer 3

As I understand it, you can block/selectively hide them with a user script (as detailed here at How To Geek).

Not something I've tried myself, still using Flashblock in Firefox for my flash de-annoyinng needs.

EDIT: Also, this might help, just seen it on Downloadsquad. Add --purge-memory-button to your shortcut command line to add a button to your Chrome taskman Purge Memory Button