Google surprised everyone by unveiling a brand new interface today. While people are still getting used to the new design, Google has also released a blog post with complete information. Whatever Google does, a lot of thought and analysis goes behind the result. The Google News page now has three sections located at the center of the homepage: a top headlines list, a local list, and a personalized “For You” section containing stories in interest areas that have been pre-selected according to preference.
Google's need for a redesign
Anand Paka, Product Manager, Google News wrote the blog which says: To make news more accessible and easier to navigate, we redesigned the desktop website with a renewed focus on facts, diverse perspectives, and more control for users. The blog post says, the redesign is to increase readability.
The new UI has a clean and uncluttered look, designed for comfortable reading and browsing.
The blog says: We’ve adopted a card format that makes it easier to browse, scan and identify related articles about a story. The new layout focuses on key elements, such as publisher names and article labels, and maintains your view and place on the page as you click in and out of stories and explore topics.
Google has dedicated the navigation column on the left to sections that can be customized. One can jump quickly to news he/she enjoys, whether it’s standard sections like Sports or Entertainment, or those created and powered by the person's queries, such as “FIFA World Cup” or “Bollywood.”
Easier Navigation
At the top of the page there is a new navigation bar for “Headlines,” “Local” and “For You.” Upon signing in, one can personalize the “Local” and “For You” tabs. In “Local,” one can track stories from any part of the world — from your hometown to where you do business to where you went to school. Blog says: "In “For You,” you can pinpoint niche interests and create your own mini news feed, whether it’s following your favorite team, or satisfying your inner geek with news on cool gadgets and gizmos."
This format has story cards - Google says it is to bring perspective to news."Story cards help you explore different perspectives to gain a well-rounded understanding of an issue. The first view offers a quick glance into a story. From there you can go deeper and read articles with different points of view which are frequently labeled with helpful tags (e.g., Local Source, Most Referenced, Opinion, or Fact Check)."
A new element has been introduced called - Full Coverage
The blog says, The “Full Coverage” page, as the name suggests, lets you immerse yourself in coverage about a story or issue that you want to deep dive into.
Another exciting add-on is the Fact Check Block
Facts are at the heart of a story’s credibility. Last year we introduced the Fact Check label so you can get easy access to fact checking articles that investigate claims made in the story. Now we’re adding a Fact Check block on the right column of “Headlines” that shows the top fact checked articles recently published (this feature is currently available in the U.S. only).
Advantages
This will help Google stay competitive with mobile-first news readers like Apple News and the built-in news delivery mechanisms of social sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Google algorithm changes
Meanwhile Google seems to have been rolling out a large search algorithm update starting sometime around Sunday, June 25. Experts are saying you should stop worrying about Google algorithm changes. According to SEO expert Kristine Schachinger, Google is providing less information about algorithm updates these days, leaving SEOs looking for answers every time they experience a huge drop in traffic. In an article on a popular search engine website, she writes, "This is what happens when Google rolls out large-scale changes to its search algorithms, and what is in these rollouts has been the topic of many articles, tweets and Facebook posts over the years."
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