Google News rolls out redesigned following feed for Android users

The redesigned following feed features a card view for topics, sources, and locations. Google News version 5.86 for Android includes the redesigned Following feature. It will expand to iOS users later this year.

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By Sumit Roy

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Popular news aggregator platform Google News has introduced a new redesigned Following feed on its mobile app to allow users to customize their feed and receive the latest updates from different topics, sources, and locations they follow.

Google News redesigned following feed 9to5 Google
Image: 9to5 Google

Google News lets users follow topics, such as technology, local, business, and entertainment, as well as specific sources and locations. The platform leverages this information to deliver personalized and relevant news stories to the user.

Earlier, the Following tab displayed everything the user followed. Now, the redesigned following feed showcases a card view for topics, sources, and locations. Users will be able to view up to three top stories from each card, along with headlines, cover images, publication names, and the publish date. Furthermore, on tablets, users can view four news stories from side to side with larger pictures.

Users cannot rearrange the cards, and each card is linked to its main page. According to a report by 9to5 Google, the Recently followed carousel at the top also allows users to quickly find relevant news without scrolling up to the top. Moreover, users can tap on Library to follow or unfollow sources.

The redesigned Following feed on the Google News app aims to enhance user experience and get a summary of news stories that are more tailored than the For You section. Google News with version 5.86 includes the redesigned Following feed. It will be soon available to all Android users globally and will expand to iOS users later this year.

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Sumit Roy

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Sumit is the Editor-in-chief at OnlyTech. He loves to cover news about Windows PCs, Android, Smart Devices, and more. You can always find him experimenting with electronic devices when not in front of a computer.
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T Thakur Apr 25, 2016 #1

With readership shifting majorly to a mobile-first platform, the likes of Google and Facebook are focusing on reducing page load times for news articles. Google had initially rolled out its Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) services to its Search platform, and publications were free to adapt it to make their pages load instantly and give readers a seamless reading experience. Recently, Google integrated AMP to Google News too, making its mobile-first intent very clear.

Google’s AMP is a similar initiative as Facebook’s Instant Articles, wherein pages consume lesser data and load instantly. Publications will possibly look to integrate both into their stories; seeing that Facebook has now become an essential tool for publications to reach out to a massive reader base.

While adapting to Google’s AMP standards is easier as it has to be implemented from the publication’s end, Facebook’s Instant Articles on the other hand requires publications to be approved by Facebook itself, till now. While some have already adapted to both, others are yet to do so.

Nandagopal Rajan, Editor-New Media, The Indian Express, explained the goal behind adapting to both the standards, and how he hopes it will affect readership. He said, “Our goal is to be available for our readers on all platforms and hence we are using both platforms effectively. Google AMP and Facebook’s Instant Articles increase our reach by removing the hurdles faced by users in low-bandwidth situations. With both, pages open in an instant and there is no delay. Hence we are not losing readers who would have earlier been put off by the wait to open a link.”

http://www.exchange4media.mobi/digital/google-news-gets-speedier-with-amp-feature_64165.html

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r rahul1117kumar May 09, 2016 #2

Google is working on improving its core Google News service by attempting to incorporate hyperlocal results in the news feed. News stories from local news sources will now be tagged as “Local Source” on Google News on the web as well as on the iOS and Android apps.

The update to Google News will now source information from local sources and “hyperlocal blogs” to present a more local picture of a situation. In their blog , Google says, “With more than 75,000 news sources, many of the publishers in Google News specialize on specific topics and locales. The local section in Google News surfaces content from regional papers to hyper-local blogs that otherwise wouldn’t appear in national news.”

Attempting to justify the move, Google quite rightly points out that once a news source of any importance, such as a national news service, picks up a piece of local news, the local source is lost. Google’s algorithm will help solve that problem and will help local sources gain recognition and bring them greater exposure.

Google also adds, “at Google News we are committed to connecting people to the news that matters most to them—be that local, national or international.”

Google News will now highlight local sources for local news Tech2 Mobile

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