Google News turned 20 this year and got a major redesign. The new design recently released (on desktops), prioritizes the coverage of important ones news. In addition to top stories and personalized picks, there is a strong focus on local news.
This section is eventually at the top of the page and you can add more websites in case the coverage is not enough.
The redesigned site also marks the official return of Google News to Spain. Google pulled its service in December 2014 in the face of a law requiring it to company to finance publishers to uses their content. However, a coalition of newspapers pressured Google to bring back Google News.
The updated site helps support the Google News Initiative, a long-running campaign to support newsrooms amid concerns that the Internet is eroding access in quality journalism. So Google has started accepting applications for one Global News Equity Fund which will help support news for minorities and smaller editorial teams.
It is too early to say whether the redesign will be successful. However, it gives local news a much higher priority than in the past while allowing the choice of editors, from the public itself, and not from Google.
