Google News may start looking a bit different this week, at least for desktop computer users.
The search giant said Wednesday that it redesigned its popular online news portal so that PC users have an easier time when reading. On the top of the page is a new navigation bar that lets people see the top headlines of the day, more local coverage, and a new “For You” tab, which lets people customize the news they want to see based on topics of personal interest.
Get Data Sheet, Coins2Day’s technology newsletter.</em></p> <p>Google is also debuting so-called story cards, which lets people see groupings of similar news stories based around a particular topic. Each news story is labeled with an identifying tag, like “opinion” or “local source,” which Google pitches is a way to “explore different perspectives to gain a well-rounded understanding of an issue.”
One of the most noteworthy new additions to the revamped Google News is a fact-checking section that rests to the right of the page. The section contains a list of the most popular articles that check the facts of current rumors or false information that are spreading throughout the Internet. Google, like Facebook (FB), has been criticized for failing to address the rise of fake news on its service, and has been debuting several fact-checking features over the past months intended to amend the issues.
Some of the articles in the fact-check section are from leading fact-checking sites like Snopes and PolitFact, as well as recognizable news organizations such as the BBC. Google said the fact-checking section is only available in the U.S., and didn’t say when it would debut in other countries.
Google (GOOG) said the redesign should be rolled out worldwide “in the coming days,” so if you don’t immediately see the changes, they should be coming later this week.