Google News Gets a Desktop Redesign

Google is launching today a redesigned version of its Google News portal on the desktop. Google says that the new look has been inspired by user feedback, and it’s possible to toggle it on and off.

With the redesign, the left navigation menu has been replaced with a top navigation bar. Top Stories, Local News, and personalized picks have been moved to the top of the page, and Local news now appear on the right. A filter button makes it easy to add different locations for the local news you’re interested in.

Google has also made it easier to customize the topics you want to see on Google News. Below the Top Stories, Local News, and Picks for you widgets at the top, there’s a “Your topics” section with a Customize button for reordering or removing topics.

Google has also expanded the Fact Check section on Google News to add more context to stories. “In addition to headlines, you’ll now see the original claim made along with the fact-checked assessment from independent organizations,” the company explained.

Google News is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and it remains a huge source of traffic for websites. “Each month, people click through from Google Search and Google News results to publishers’ websites more than 24 billion times,” Google claimed.

Google News is currently available in over 125 countries and 40 languages, and it’s also coming back to Spain today. After almost 8 years of interruption, the service made its return after a new copyright law allowed Spanish media outlets to decide how they want their content to be discovered and monetized.