Google has given its news aggregation service a revamp to remove clutter on the page and give it a cleaner look for its desktop version. With the new design, readers will be able to see content that has been fact-checked by third parties. Recently, the search giant has been taking several measures to spot fake news on Google Search results.
Google has also introduced a section on the right-side of the desktop version’s homepage called “Fact Check”. It will throw up daily updates from fact-checking sites like PolitFact and Snopes. Currently, the feature is only available in the United States.
“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,” Product Manager Anand Paka said in a blog.
Google had stuck to the same design for Google News for almost 14 years. The Google News page now has three tabs on top of the homepage – Headlines section, Local section and a For You section (personalised search results). The user can now read news on a card-based interface, similar to the mobile app of the search engine. Every card or a story will have links to other related stories.
“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,” Paka said in the blog.
Google kills GTalk, replaces it with Hangouts
On Monday, Google discontinued its 12-year-old chat service Google Talk, replacing it completely with Google Hangouts. Anyone who was still using GTalk or GChat will now be forced to move to Hangouts.
Launched in 2005, Google Talk or G-chat, as it was informally known, provided an inbuilt and simple chat feature for Gmail users. GTalk users will initially receive a prompt to use Hangouts instead. After June 26, their accounts will automatically be transitioned to Hangouts, unless contractual commitments apply. Google also offers other messaging services, including Allo, Duo, Android Messages, and Google Voice.
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