A new discovery on Google has revealed a test regarding adding news stories to its homepage, below the company's massive logo and search bar, which have been relatively blank for a long time.
These additional items to its website will also include other things like the weather and stocks - a homepage evident in its search engine rivals, Microsoft Bing and Yahoo.
For a long time, Google opted for a clean and minimalist look on the homepage where news stories would only appear when searched, but now, it is alive in India.
Google Tests News Stories Appearing on its Homepage
According to MSPoweruser, Google has now started testing the Discover feed on the desktop version of its website for a select group of users, displaying news stories whenever visiting it.
This new test is reportedly reminiscent of the Google Discover feed on the mobile app, wherein users get a rundown of the top news stories in the world. The Discover feed is shown under the search box in Google's mobile apps and on some Android devices' left-most panel of the Home screens.
For several years, Google's homepage was usually blank and only filled with a search bar, accounts in the top right corner, tabs for Gmail and Images, a menu hideaway, and the language options below.
The site is either white or grey, depending on one's device or preference for light or dark mode, as well as the Material You themes that users may set.
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Google India's New Homepage: Like Bing and Yahoo?
According to ArsTechnica, the latest test was discovered in Google's India operations, showing a column of top news stories featured based on the algorithm matching one's interests.
It was also reported that this new feature by Google is similar to Microsoft's Bing and Yahoo offerings of news stories directly available on its desktop homepage apart from the search bar.
Google's Search Engine Development
One of the top focuses of Google now is its AI developments, with Bard coming to various platforms, as well as other generative AI focuses, particularly for its search engine.
The company has recently incorporated its generative AI into the platform's search features, offering a significant improvement to its text-to-image capabilities, giving outputs from user requests.
The search engine is the gateway to the internet, and for a long time, Google has been at the forefront of its development, offering its services to make it more accessible for all. The company also recently added a grammar checker on the search bar. However, it is currently available in the English language only.
Bing and Yahoo featured news directly available on their search engine's homepage, dividing the public's preference between having this or having a cleaner and blank homepage.
Now, Google caved into the idea of featuring news stories on its homepage, under its recent testing of the feature in India, but it is unknown if it would also be available to the rest of the world.
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