14 DAY TRIAL // Google News may be a great target for disgruntled news publishers looking for someone to blame, but the service can be a great tool for readers and news sources alike. It's not perfect, but it does have some unique advantages and today it can add a new tool to its arsenal. Interesting stories can now be 'starred', just like in Google Reader or Gmail, so they can be saved to be viewed later in the Starred section.
"Today, we are giving users even more options for following stories. Users can mark a story cluster by clicking on the star next to it, like they can with messages in Gmail and items in Google Reader," Jude Britto, software engineer at Google News, wrote in the rather brief announcement.
"When you star a story in Google News, it's one way to let us know that you're interested in that subject. When there are significant updates, we will alert you by putting the headline in bold so you can get more information. You can also follow your 20 most recent starred stories in the "Starred" section of Google News," she explained.
The feature definitely has potential and is somewhat overdue, but the current implementation leaves some things to be desired. Stories on the front page or in the search results have a small star icon next to them to make it easy to mark them. You can then go back to them in the Starred section, just below Top Stories, to read them when you have the time.
However, the option isn't available after selecting a story and going in the detailed view. What's more, you can't star an actual article, just the top story in the pack which may change as Google adjusts the ranking. The 20 stories limit is also a bit small for some users. Still, the feature was clearly needed and some of the shortcomings may be fixed in future updates.