Jul 19, 2017
Google rolls out Facebook News Feed competitor
- Sara Fischer, author of Axios Media Trends
Google announced Wednesday an overhaul to its mobile search platform that will algorithmically prioritize links that users will see as they scroll through search results, similarly to how Facebook operates.
- The new "Google Feed," which will rival Facebook's "News Feed," will include more social-like features, like the ability to follow your favorites and a topic filter at the top.
- Like Facebook, Google says it will provide information from "diverse perspectives," meaning news stories may have multiple viewpoints from a variety of sources that show up in your feed.
- Why it matters: Google will now more directly compete with Facebook for users' time spent on mobile. This will also change the focus areas consumers will use to receive news on each platform. Whereas Google tends to be a source of more local, state and hard news (business, tech, job postings, etc.), Facebook has owned the entertainment and lifestyle spaces.