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Google builds data tool to help publishers see what's going viral

Photo credit should read LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images

Google has created a new tool to help newsrooms make coverage decisions based on real-time data of what’s being searched on Google and talked about on Twitter.

Why it matters: It’s the latest effort by a tech giant to help give newsrooms access to data that could help their businesses. Google argues newsrooms can boost user loyalty by using the tool to cover the topics they are most interested in.

Details: The tool, called Trending Topics , is available for free to any newsroom that utilizes Google’s free analytics platform, Google Analytics.

  • It shows, via a dashboard, Google Trends around key news moments, like political debates.
  • The data is captured from real-time search queries into Google and tweets that are publicly-facing.
  • The team says that due to the nature of Facebook’s backend technology, they can’t pull Facebook or Instagram posts into the tool.

The big picture: Other Big Tech giants are trying to build similar tools for news publishers to help them understand what's going viral.

  • For example, Google rival Facebook bought CrowdTangle, a tool that publishers use to see what's trending on the web, in 2016.
  • According to Amy Adams Harding — Director of Analytics & Revenue Optimization, News & Publishing at Google — the tool was built in response to a big influx of requests from publishers to give them better data insights. 

Be smart: The tool was created in part via funds from the Google News Initiative, a $300 million commitment towards helping the news industry succeed in the digital age by Google.

Here's what the new tool looks like:

Google, Picture of Realtime Content Insights dashboard
Google, Picture of Realtime Content Insights dashboard

Go deeper:

Go deeper

Jonathan Swan
13 mins ago - Politics & Policy
Off the Rails

Episode 4: Trump turns on Barr

Photo illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios. Photos: Drew Angerer, Pool/Getty Images

Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term. Axios takes you inside the collapse of a president with a special series.

Episode 4: Trump torches what is arguably the most consequential relationship in his Cabinet.

Attorney General Bill Barr stood behind a chair in the private dining room next to the Oval Office, looming over Donald Trump. The president sat at the head of the table. It was Dec. 1, nearly a month after the election, and Barr had some sharp advice to get off his chest. The president's theories about a stolen election, Barr told Trump, were "bullshit."

Go deeper (6 min. read)Arrow
Rebecca Falconer
5 hours ago - Politics & Policy

In photos: Protests outside fortified capitols draw only small groups

Armed members of the far-right extremist group the Boogaloo Bois near the Michigan Capitol Building in Lansing on Jan. 17. About 20 protesters showed up, AP notes. Photo: Seth Herald/AFP via Getty Images

Small groups of protesters gathered outside fortified statehouses across the U.S. over the weekend ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration Wednesday.

The big picture: Some protests attracted armed members of far-right extremist groups but there were no reports of clashes, as had been feared. The National Guard and law enforcement outnumbered demonstrators, as security was heightened around the U.S. to avoid a repeat of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots, per AP.

See photos (<1 min. read)Arrow
Felix Salmon, author of Capital
8 hours ago - World

China's economy grows 6.5% in Q4 as country rebounds from coronavirus

A technician installs and checks service robots to be be used for food and medicine delivery in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China, on Sunday. Photo: Hu Xuejun/VCG via Getty Images

China's economy grew at a 6.5% pace in the final quarter of 2020, the national statistics bureau announced Monday local time, topping off a year in which it grew in three of four quarters and by 2.3% in total.

Why it matters: No other major economy managed positive growth in 2020. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was first detected in China, the country got the virus under control and became one of the main positive drivers of the global economy even as the rest of the world was largely under lockdown.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow