If you use the Google App on iOS or Android, you may soon notice a stream of news stories underneath the search bar. That’s the Google Feed, and, like the stories on Twitter or Facebook’s timeline, it’s customized to you.
But is it enough to get you to check back for new stuff every day?
The stories in my feed were, for the most part, relevant. I was immediately greeted by news about Marvel movies (big fan), tech news (I wonder why?) and gaming (also makes sense). There was also a smattering of politics and general news, but not as much as I expected considering how much I follow those topics.
How does Google Feed work?
Topics in the Feed are based on your search history and Chrome browsing history. That explains, for the most part, why many of the stories I saw were relevant to me.
I did, however, find that some stories were a few days old, which isn’t helpful to someone who reads the news as voraciously as I do. I found myself actually clicking through very few articles while I scrolled.
There were also a few stories that I didn’t care about. For instance, one appeared promising details about Jay-Z and Beyonce’s twins’ birth certificates. By pressing three dots in the right hand corner of the card, I was greeted with options to tell the app to show me less about the topic (Jay-Z), or the outlet (Entertainment Tonight). To be fair to Google, I did search for some Jay-Z lyrics a few days ago.
The Google feed’s greatest flaw is its lack of depth. Facebook brags that it chooses just the best 200 stories from around 3,5000 it could show you each day. That’s in part because it’s had years to learn what you Like. After a few vertical swipes, Google has a tough time correlating your searches with current news, and the feed’s relevance starts to plummet. But at least the Google app seems cognizant of its shallow content pool, deterring further browsing past the first 10 links by forcing you to tap a “more stories” button instead of infinitely scrolling.
All in all, this feed is a genius solution to the problem that killed Google Plus: No friends. Rather than create a copycat feed that depended on them and fell short in their absence, Google purposefully built a ghost town that treats their omission as a feature, not a bug.
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