14 DAY TRIAL // Google News has just gotten its first major redesign since being introduced in 2002. No wonder then that the new design has been in testing for months, as Google tweaked and adjusted the features and layout to get it just right. There are a couple of main themes throughout the new Google News, more personalization, the site aims to find more stories that are of interest to you, and more sharing.
“Today we’re revamping the Google News homepage with several changes designed to make the news that you see more relevant to you. We’re also trying to better highlight interesting stories you didn’t know existed and to make it easier for you to share stories through social networks,” Google engineer Kevin Stolt introduced the revamped site.
Visitors will still be able to recognize the site and the changes may not even be that obvious to those that don’t frequently use Google News. But, once you dive in, you’ll realize that this is a thorough redesign.
The News Stream
Google News replaces the focus on sections with a single ‘news stream’ that takes up most of the page. The concept is somewhat similar to what Twitter, Facebook and others are doing and, since these two sites are quickly replacing the need for dedicated news aggregators, it’s probably a good idea to borrow a thing or two from them.
The stream is split into two sections, Top Stories and “News for you.” The Top Stories are the entries shown to all visitors to Google News and, as the name implies, are the top news stories of the moment. The second section is where you’ll probably be spending much of your time, though, as the stories are especially catered to your interests.
Personalized news and Trending Topics
The first time you’ll visit the revamped Google News you’ll be prompted to rank your interests in the main topics, World, Business, Sci/Tech and so on. If you had customized sections setup, these will also be listed along with the possibility to remove them. After you’re done, Google News will retrieve only the stories it believes are relevant to you in the personalized section.
Another interesting new feature is the Trending Topics section which, much like its Twitter namesake, highlights the hottest topics of the moment based on what the news organizations are writing about.
New sharing options and more/less stories from a source
Google News finally gets some real sharing options. Until now, the only choice was email, which may have worked in 2002, but in the highly connected web of 2010, it feels antiquated. If you find a story you like, you can share it with your friends via email, Google Reader, Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz.
In the same drop-down menu you’ll also notice a interesting addition, the possibility to see more or less stories from that particular source. This affects how Google will rank the stories it recommends to you in the future.
There are plenty of other small features and tweaks and it may take a while for you to discover them. Overall, it’s a welcomed revamp which brings a couple of features that were sorely needed. If this will help Google News stay relevant when most people now get their news from their friends remains to be seen, but it’s a step in the right direction.
