Google announced some new features around Google News and Top Stories. First, now Google is using BERT and other machine learning techniques to examine the related articles and determine where one story ends and another begins. Second, Google no longer requires you to submit your site for inclusion into Google News to be shown in News or Top Stories. And Top Stories got some new features.
Google News BERT:
Google said To power this new experience, we developed a new story-understanding technology to map the people, places and things involved in a news story, and then draw connections between them. This technology allows us to create distinct groups of news articles. To generate these groups, we use a variety of machine learning techniques including BERT models to examine the related articles and determine where one story ends and another begins. Our research has shown that clustering results into clearly-defined stories is critical in helping people easily navigate the results and identify the best content for their needs.
We’re now also featuring key information, such as notable quotes and related opinion pieces, in the top stories carousel within Search. These different content types provide people a more well-rounded view of a news story to help them decide which angle to explore more deeply. This change is part of a longer-term effort to expand the types of journalistic contributions we highlight to users in Search.
Submission Not Required:
Google said "Publishers no longer need to submit their site to be eligible for the Google News app and website. Publishers are automatically considered for Top stories or the News tab of Search." This was spotted by Barry Adams:
Hidden among this barrage of Publisher Center updates, this is quite a shock:
— Barry Adams (@badams) December 11, 2019
"Publishers no longer need to submit their site to be eligible for the Google News app and website. Publishers are automatically considered for Top stories or the News tab of Search." pic.twitter.com/yrCZwnly6j
Danny Sullivan also shared this:
See the linked help page https://t.co/AyLpi2JS40 pic.twitter.com/9Q1VBNPz5o
— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) December 12, 2019
New Features:
Google will now organize the results by story so it’s easier to understand what’s most relevant and you can make a more informed decision on which specific articles to explore. Within each story, the new structure will make more room for high-quality content--beyond just the most recent coverage--as well as more diverse sources, to bring more context and perspective to the day’s news, Google said.
Here is a GIF:
Google said this is now rolling out to English in the U.S. and rolling out to more languages and locations in the coming months.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
