Google News on Friday added some new upgrades to its platform including larger thumbnail photos that dynamically expand when stories are selected and the ability to more robustly share information via Google+.
Speaking about the company’s new Google+ integration a representative for Google wrote in a blog post:
“Many news stories inspire vibrant discussions on Google+, and today we’re starting to add this content to both the News homepage, and the realtime coverage pages.”
If you want to see just headlines the feature can be turned off, otherwise you will see news from your circles, journalists and other “notable” writers right on the Google News homepage.
The new integration comes at a time when Google is trying to capitalize on the always updating landscape of online news reporting, including a new “real-time” news feature that organizes stories based on published times in more or less chronological order. Google also highlights highly cited, opinion pieces and in-depth articles below each story.
Do you think better Google+ integration will ultimately help Google+ attract more users via Google News or does the real-time feature and other upgrades overshadow the company’s attempt to further integrate Google+ into Google News.
