Google has redesigned Google News to make the platform more customisable for desktop and allow users to find local news easier.
The new look for Google News on desktop was inspired by feedback Google received from readers, as a result top stories, local news and personalised ‘picks for you’ are now at the top of the webpage.
Users can now use the filter button to add multiple locations to their local news section and customise topics.
The redesign offers a more condensed view and requires less scrolling, with fewer alternative stories at a glance, but users can still access more articles on a given story via the full coverage shortcut.
Overall this makes for a less cluttered interface with the ability to add, remove or reorder topics that interests users, giving a less differentiated picture of the news.
To help users make more informed judgments about the information online, Google has expanded the Fact Check section to provide more context.
As well as headlines, users will now see the original claim made along with the fact-checked assessment from independent organisations.
Users can also find more information about sources right on Google Search, called About This Result.
With this extra context, users can follow expert recommendations to check the source and see what others say about a topic, helping readers make more informed decisions about the sites they want to visit and what results will be most useful for them.
Brad Bender, VP product management, and Olivia Ma, director, at Google News Initiative said: “This change is just the latest way we’re bringing local news to users around the world."
The redesign comes one year after Google expanded a feature so readers around the world could see a carousel of local news stories when Google finds local news coverage relevant to their query, which made users find stories from local news publishers easier.
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