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May 14, 2009

Google News Redesign

One year after testing a new interface for Google News, the Mountain View-based Internet giant Google launched the redesign. It's more cheerful and visually-rich than the previous design, section pages include more videos and photos, while most of the clutter has been removed.

Google News homepage


Sci-Tech section of Google News

The project that allowed people involved in a news story to post comments has been abandoned, but you can still read the last comments. It didn't scale, it was difficult to automate and the number of comments was too small to matter.

The last Google News comments

17 comments:

  1. While it looks good, now I wish I could just get some straight, factual unbiased data from some news sources to use in this new aggregate.

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  2. It's annoying. Stop 'changing' things. Ever hear of the word 'familiarity'? Google products are inconsistent and do not remain the same long enough for anyone to become efficient. Gmail included. Now we have to hunt around for where things are at or used to be at on the screen. Google liberals need to learn to stop changing thing FOR NO REASON. It was fine the way it was. I'm trying to move away from using any kind of google product because I know 9 months later the layout is going to be different again. Where's the OPTION to keep it the way IT WAS - oh, socialism, same fit for everyone.

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  3. I like how Google programs evolve. It's fun to be part of it all. Keep up the good work everybody.

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  4. The post from 'Anonymous' is the kind where one has to stop and wonder whether or not its supposed to be a joke. I hope it is. I really, really do.

    Anyhow, I like Google News' very much improved appearance. Keep up the good work whoever it is at Google that's responsible.

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  5. Too bad about the comments feature. I really liked what I read in those comments, often giving a different side of the story.

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  6. I find it hard to get excited about design updates, when they cannot be bothered to develop the service at all - I still have to select "date order" every single time, because 'preferences' doesn't allow me set any preferences that matter to me. Sadly Google is like a kid with a toybox; the new toy gets all the attention, while all the older toys just get the snot wiped off with a dirty rag every now and then. Google Groups, News, Orkut, even knol ... development is just about making it easier to 'share', 'chat' and post pictures; little or no development is about improving services.

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  7. It seems Google News has revamped itself to put a greater focus on news, as well as having quotes and youtube videos embedded on the side:

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  8. Sorry, but I don't like the new shade of blue on the links - it's too bright!

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  9. The new design is a huge mistake. The old two-column format resembled a broadsheet newspaper; I could quickly scan a page to catch the few links I wanted to follow. I liked being able to personalize sections and re-arrange the design. Now we have a long and chaotic scroll. That's a 5,000 year old print format, not new and certainly not informative. I don't mind change, but this does not benefit readers. Probably it's easier and cheaper for Google. If you don't give us an opt-out for returning to the two-column format, I will stop reading Google News.

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  10. Quote: "Anyhow, I like Google News' very much improved appearance."

    Oh really? I've never a seen a company so resistant to providing UI *OPTIONS* to users including a plain/simple interface w/o all kinds of fancy "inventions" etc. if so desired. Nothing like forced changes on users every year. Now THAT'S "no joke".

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  11. The old saying, "If it ain't busted, don't fix it" applies here. Google News wasn't busted but it is now. Moving to Yahoo news...cya

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  12. I'm disappointed in the Google News redesign. Wasn't needed and appears new just to be new. No other reason. Couldn't these people find something productive to do?

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  13. How about a classic view option? Google would then get some metrics on how much people like me HATE the new setup. Email me when you've fixed it: I'll be over at Bing News until then (it sucks--but if you're just going to copy them, I might as well get the original suckiness)

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  14. The new design absolutely sucks... Goobla, what are you smoking? Maybe I could use some so I will like the new design.

    Have you actually used both old and redesigned google news, or just read blurbs about the nice new features?

    The design add about ten times the clutter, mixes articles together in one long list where it is nearly impossible to pick out what you want to read. The supposed personalization features don't work very well.

    The old news had a very simple two-column layout with articles arranged in sections... it was very easy to spot articles of interest at a glance. It was also easy to add a section for any search and put that anywhere you want.

    The redesign has two *wide* margins full of clutter, most of which cannot be controlled by the user. All the main articles are just in one long column in the middle of all that noise. With one instead of two columns, you have to scroll the screen twice as much to find anything, and something about the fonts/colors/format makes it harder for articles to catch the eye.

    I truly admire google. I especially admire their keep-it-simple paradigm. They have completely blown that paradigm here, filling the page with unnecessary complexity that users cannot even control.

    I have abandoned google news for better news pages... not better than the old google news... but by far better than the new one.

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  15. Hate it and won't ever return.

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  16. People commenting on this post should note that it was talking about a redesign in 2009, not the horrible "New Coke" one-column redesign of 2010.

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