As some are aware, over the past few years, Google has made changes to its search results pages. Instead of simply providing links to relevant content, you can now, in many cases, see relevant information displayed directly within the search results along the right side of the page.
Google is taking things a step further by now adding a News Feed to its homepage content. Where once was little more than a header image and a search bar, with an occasional game or video, there will now be a feed of news articles, videos, features, music, and websites.
Google is continuing to find ways to bring information to its users before a search even begins
Users will be able to choose to follow certain topics to customize their Google news feed. On mobile devices, similar features already exist for those who utilize Google Assistant and the Google app on Android devices. Google Now cards appear under the search box when users open the app or toolbar.
Then a user can decide if they want to continue to see similar content. Users can also add information on their favorite sports teams to keep up with scores and game times. This trial began in December 2016, and the full news feed for smartphones will be added to apps in the US first.
The content that will be displayed will be based on the user’s prior search queries and will be sourced from a variety of publishers.
The reasoning behind this move is preventing the “filter bubble”, where users are only presented with information that aligns with their current viewpoint. The goal is to be able to provide a variety of viewpoints on the topics that users search most often.
Google unclear on whether space on the new homepage will ever be sold to advertisers
The company generates its revenue from selling advertising via its search and display networks, but Google has not said if advertising would be coming to this version of the Google homepage. But the company is also aware that social media giant Facebook’s news feed is highly used, and this change to its homepage may help it compete in that arena.
By continually increasing the amount of content available to searchers, Google can increase the usefulness of the search platform as well increase the time spent on google.com, which is already the most visited website in the world, according to Alexa Internet, an analytics firm that tracks web domains.
For now, it seems as if Google is going to use this space to steer people towards its traditional search engine advertising, as opposed to including it on the homepage itself. Whether that will change with future iterations remains to be seen.
