Google's actively trying to push for more local headlines, limited not only to their News Showcase platform, but on Search webpages as well, in a rather inclusive move for the company.
This particular development was highlighted by the tech giant’s Product Management head, William Vambenepe, via a recent series of tweets that delved into the new roster of publishers joining the News Showcase flagship. Sharing a Google blog post that further elaborated on the matter, Vambenepe highlighted some of the new names on the marquee (specifically Le Monde, Le Figaro, and Libération from France), and the upcoming extended access feature that would provide certain paywall guarded publications to readers for free.
The main Google News Showcase headlines having been touted, Vambenepe then went on to discuss the push of local news for Google’s vast and multinational community. Specifying that this particular feature is not limited to News Showcase, but also extends into the Search engine’s webpages. In an attempt to clear up confusions, the Product Management head went on to provide an example of how the local push would appear to users.
Providing an image for visual aid, William Vambenepe searched up inauguration on the engine, and was immediately flung back a series of results regarding Joe Biden making it to the White House in the form of Top Stories. However, with his location set as California, the local news bar kept itself relevant to both the inauguration as well as current proceedings in the state. For the sake of clarity, examples of local news included updates regarding the Capitol riots’ effect on California, as well as the local politicians wishing Biden and Kamala Harris well. In contrast, top stories focused more on generic, yet popular, stories from the likes of CNN covering the event.
The local news section is to be found right below the top stories feed on a Search webpage. However, as it stands, the feature is seemingly not available for everyone and might take a while before rolling out to other regions and devices. In lieu of that, further discourse regarding its accuracy outside of US-based regions is still up in the air. Until then, hopefully News Showcase will have built up a large enough catalogue of news publishers so users across the world can read about relevant news from their local journalists, with their consensual participation in Google’s search algorithm.
Read next: These Are The Most Searched “Should I” Questions That Users Asked Google In The Last Year
This particular development was highlighted by the tech giant’s Product Management head, William Vambenepe, via a recent series of tweets that delved into the new roster of publishers joining the News Showcase flagship. Sharing a Google blog post that further elaborated on the matter, Vambenepe highlighted some of the new names on the marquee (specifically Le Monde, Le Figaro, and Libération from France), and the upcoming extended access feature that would provide certain paywall guarded publications to readers for free.
The main Google News Showcase headlines having been touted, Vambenepe then went on to discuss the push of local news for Google’s vast and multinational community. Specifying that this particular feature is not limited to News Showcase, but also extends into the Search engine’s webpages. In an attempt to clear up confusions, the Product Management head went on to provide an example of how the local push would appear to users.
Providing an image for visual aid, William Vambenepe searched up inauguration on the engine, and was immediately flung back a series of results regarding Joe Biden making it to the White House in the form of Top Stories. However, with his location set as California, the local news bar kept itself relevant to both the inauguration as well as current proceedings in the state. For the sake of clarity, examples of local news included updates regarding the Capitol riots’ effect on California, as well as the local politicians wishing Biden and Kamala Harris well. In contrast, top stories focused more on generic, yet popular, stories from the likes of CNN covering the event.
The local news section is to be found right below the top stories feed on a Search webpage. However, as it stands, the feature is seemingly not available for everyone and might take a while before rolling out to other regions and devices. In lieu of that, further discourse regarding its accuracy outside of US-based regions is still up in the air. Until then, hopefully News Showcase will have built up a large enough catalogue of news publishers so users across the world can read about relevant news from their local journalists, with their consensual participation in Google’s search algorithm.
Read next: These Are The Most Searched “Should I” Questions That Users Asked Google In The Last Year
