Tech company Google has announced a number of new updates to its News and Search features that will give users greater control and more validated information in the stories they see on their screens.
The look of Google News will be changing dramatically, giving way to the side of the screen for a bar that lists a number of news stories taken from the user’s location. That way, the company hopes to ensure that people will be informed about both international news stories and those that have more of an immediate affect on them.
Furthermore, a new “Customize” button has been added to the top-right of the screen, allowing users to change what news they get to suit their own tastes. For example, some people may not be interested in viewing local news and might give more of a priority to sports, entertainment or business news. They can choose that by selecting each available category in the sub-menus.
Google has also announced that they’ll be providing more of an emphasis on the origin of news stories and the fact-checking of the content that is shown on their pages by incorporating the original claims, alongside the assessments made by a news story next to the headline.
To aid in their efforts of avoiding the spread of misinformation, Google have also added the “About This Result” feature. Each result that the Search engine provides will also have the three dots (…) next it. Clicking on them will reveal a number of options, among which will be the About This Result feature that will tell users where that specific news story came from, giving them more details about their news sources.
Additionally, Google have announced the return of Google News to Spain after the release of a new copyright law and the first round of entries through their Data-Recipient Project, the partnership between the company’s News Initiative (GNI) and the Medill School of Journalism, in an attempt to create a generation of reporters that focus on delivering the facts rather than appealing to the people.
Google have also said they’ll be launching a number of other initiatives and campaigns that are expected to launch soon in the US and other areas of the world, with the focus being kept on the sustainability of the media industry.
