Google has announced it is improving its "feed experience" introduced in December by tailoring it to your likes and interests. The search giant is rolling out an update to its Google app for Android and iPhones that will utilize AI to show the content it believes you want to see.
The feed will show cards based on your previous interactions with Google's services, such as search histories, what you've watched and liked on YouTube, calendar entries, and activities in Chrome. Whatever's trending in your local area and around the world will also appear, and you can choose to follow certain topics, public figures, TV shows, musical artists, etc. Users just have to tap the follow button that will appear next to certain types of search results.
Expect to see everything from videos, to news articles, to listicles in the updated feed. It will also show older, relevant items that users may have missed first time round.
"To provide information from diverse perspectives, news stories may have multiple viewpoints from a variety of sources, as well as other related information and articles," writes Google, which will also offer fact checks.
While the feature does sound similar to Facebook's news feed, Google insists they are very different. "The key issue here is this feed is really about your interests," said Ben Gomes, vice president of engineering for Google search. "It's not really about what your friends are interested in, which is what other feeds might be."
The way Google uses your search history to bring up subjects of interest may concern some people, but the company says topics such as pornography and hate speech won't be picked up on, and it won't try to guess your religion or sexual preferences.
The feature is now rolling out in the United States. It will appear internationally sometime in the next few weeks.