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Google has rolled out a redesigned feed for news by Kevin Tran on Jul 20, 2017, 12:33 PM Advertisement
 This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Digital Media Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here. Google rolled out a redesigned news feed infused with machine learning to create a more customized user experience. News in the feed will appear according to user’s interactions with Google, like search history, topics users pick and trending developments around a user’s location. The feed is available in the Google app for iOS and Android, and could potentially keep users who may otherwise scroll through Facebook’s news feed in Google’s app longer. - Google’s feed is similar to Facebook’s in function, but minus many social elements.Content doesn’t surface according to what others in a user’s social circle are reading or have shared, and there aren’t any native functions for commenting or liking a post.
- Eliminating the "echo chamber" seems to be one of the functions of Google’s new feed. The Google feed emphasizes "broader context and deeper exploration" to stories, displaying a handful of viewpoints from several sources, as well as related information and articles, under a news story.
- Promoting a diversity of viewpoints on the feed could be a competitive differentiator. Facebook has often been criticized for surfacing content that reinforces people’s worldview. This happens, in part, because of the social nature of Facebook, and the possibility that like-minded friends will share content that you agree with. Google’s emphasis on promoting multiple viewpoints could attract people to its feed over Facebook’s.
- But the lack of social features on Google’s feed limits its ability to challenge Facebook. Part of what makes Facebook’s news feed attractive is the personal endorsement and comments that users often add to stories they share. Google’s feed won’t appeal to people users who value having their friends’ commentary on shared links within a news feed.
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