Google Adds Customization to News

By Nate Mook | Published March 10, 2005, 12:16 PM

Although it remains in beta, Google News has received its first major facelift since launching in 2002 and now enables readers to fully customize their headlines. Along with rearranging categories, news from different languages can be combined and custom sections created based on specific keywords.

"We've made a number of improvements to Google News that allow you to customize your News front page by creating sections that focus on topics you care about, for instance, your favorite sports team, technology, or celebrity," Google says on its Web site.

Google News visitors can also custom tailor the number of headlines to view per section, or read a slimmed-down version of the site with only headlines and no additional text or images.

To bring in more visitors, Google encourages users to share their unique news layouts with friends. A special URL is created for each customized page, which can be passed on via e-mail or IM.

"We're excited about the opportunity to be able to offer the customized Google News feature in 9 languages, and we're exploring opportunities to make the Google News service available in more languages and more countries," a Google spokesperson told BetaNews.

Comments

Score: 0

|

Can Linux do BitLocker better than Windows 7?

Betanews kicks off a new series with a look at how the Linux operating system's FDE stacks up against BitLocker, the Windows feature that today commands a $120 premium.

Firefox 3.5: The need for speed

This has been the big payoff week for Mozilla's developers, who worked overtime to squeeze out the last drop of performance from their new JavaScript engine.

'GeoHot' gets a shower, cleans up nice, reveals new iPhone 3G S jailbreak

Either puberty has been very kind to the author of the new 'Purple Ra1n' jailbreak tool, or George Hotz may also have some adequate Photoshop skills.

What's Next: Obama gives 'Einstein' the go-ahead, while China gives 'Green Dam' a thumbs-down

Plus: If you put up a Web site and name it after you and you're a federal judge, you might not want a bunch of weird nudity hanging around on it.

Why would Windows 7 customers spend $120 more for BitLocker?

For pre-orders from now until July 11, Microsoft is offering the Windows 7 Professional SKU for a very steep discount. So why invest in Ultimate?

Geeks vs. journalists: A tale of two worldviews

Recovery with Angela Gunn Why geeks think most mainstream journalism is flaky, and why the mainstream thinks geeks are trying to kill them. (They're both right.)

Fire in downtown Seattle data center knocks out businesses, online services

Small fire has global impact with payment centers, city services down.

Hybrid satellite cell phones aren't far off

The first satellite in Terrestar's hybrid cellular/satellite phone network has been launched.

SMS could be a critical iPhone vulnerability, says white-hat hacker

Mac hacker Charlie Miller knows how to get into your iPhone.

Will Oracle's Java-based Fusion middleware 'fuse' with Java?

Now that Oracle has acquired Sun Microsystems, Java developers and supporters are wondering when Oracle will formally welcome Java into the family.

All together now: iPhone and Palm Pre, likely to both grace O2's UK portfolio

European wireless network operator O2 has reportedly reached a deal to exclusively carry the Palm Pre in the UK. O2,...

Vista's dead: Microsoft kills an OS and no one cares

Carmi Levy: Wide Angle Zoom Can you kill an operating system? Microsoft is about to find out.

Kantaris Media Player 0.5.7

July 3 - 5:34 PM ET

Wine 1.1.25

July 3 - 5:30 PM ET

ChrisTV Online! Free 4.00

July 3 - 5:22 PM ET

glu 1.0.19 RC1

July 3 - 5:11 PM ET

Website-Watcher 5.1.0 Beta 10

July 3 - 1:20 PM ET