Google News has changed to focus more on local news

Google News is undergoing a change and especially covering local news and fact checking.

Google News celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, and for the occasion, the platform has undergone major changes to reflect the new priorities of journalism. The new News desktop makes it easy to find important news. In addition to news headlines and those chosen for you, there is a special focus on local news. This section is finally at the top of the page and you can add multiple locations if one city isn’t enough.

Google News is transforming

The Mountain View firm is also stepping up fact-checking. Google News now shows the original text next to the headline, as well as third-party fact checks that show if the text has been verified. You are also not tied to the topics that Google chooses. Click on the “Customize”button in your choice and you can add, remove or swap the topics you are interested in.

This new design also marks the official return of Google News to Spain. Google stopped coverage of local news in December 2014 due to a law that requires publishers to pay to use their content, including headlines. The coalition pushed Google to rebuild News, and Google announced its return last November after a royal decree allowing the American giant to negotiate with individual publishers rather than paying for them all.

And covers local news and fact checking

This new version is also released in support of the Google News Initiative, a long-term campaign to help newsrooms cope with fears that the Internet is degrading journalism. Google has begun considering applications for its Global News Equity Fund, which wants to support news for minorities and underrepresented groups. They have until July 21st to apply. The company is also distributing its first round of funding – $1 million – to its Data-Driven Reporting Project, which helps communities run data-intensive surveys.

It is too early to assess the success of this redesign. One thing is for sure, local information is much more highlighted than before. And overall, the new organization of pages and content is more modern, cleaner, and easier to use. This may encourage more users to use the Google service rather than using dedicated apps like Apple News.