Google has today announced that Google News is currently undergoing a transformation. While the functionality largely remains the same, the design and the layout of Google News is being drastically improved to offer a cleaner, more modern, more informative, and easier to read layout. Google notes that the new Google News is starting to roll out today, and will take a few days to go live for everyone.
As for the design changes, there are a number of them in place. The main and consistent change though, is the general improvement to the site’s readability. While the current (now old) version of Google News has not changed much over time, the new version boasts a design which makes use of a card layout. Resulting in news stories being more clearly defined, easier to identify, and like-minded stories easier to find. This design isn’t only about looks though, as it also includes navigational improvements. Firstly, clicking through stories and returning to the general feed will now return the reader to the last place they were at. Likewise, if an article contains a video, the video link will now be more visible so the user can click straight to the video, while the actual media player is also said to have been improved. In addition, the tabs on the left have become more prominent so users can more easily jump between topics and categories. Speaking of which, the top of the Google News feed now include three dedicated tab pages, “Headlines,” “Local,” and “For You”. An aspect which highlights another one of the main improvements to Google News, its ability to be customized. While you could customize it before, the new design make it much easier to do so, and then jump from news that is more for everyone, to news that matches your specific interests, or where you are located.
Of course, a redesigned Google News would not be a modern one if it did not offer additional ways to combat so-called “Fake News.” On that note, the new look Google News will not just highlight like-stories together, but will actively highlight articles that offer a different perspective on the same news. Ensuring that readers are exposed to a “well-rounded understanding of an issue.” In addition, the right hand side of the Headlines tab will now show a dedicated ‘Fact Check’ box. Here, articles that have been recognized as fact checked will show up. Although, Google does note that the fact checking box will only be available to readers in the US, for now.
