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Google Introduces Smart Feed in Search with Follow Button

Users of the mobile Google Search app can “follow” particular topics — and also be spoon-fed information Google has determined they’re interested in.

At an unveiling in San Francisco on Tuesday, the Mountain View search giant gave a preview of the new “smart feed” scheduled to roll out for Apple iOS and Google Android mobile devices. It identifies areas of interest selected by a user, and their history of using Search, YouTube and other Google products, to produce a stream of news stories and other information intended to be unique to each user.

“None of us has quite the same mix of passions, interests and goals as the next person,” said Shashi Thakur, Google’s vice-president of engineering for Search. “It’s hard to find one place to stay in the know about exactly what matters to you.”

A “follow” button will appear next to certain search results including those concerning movies, sports, bands and celebrities. Hitting the button puts the topic into the feed.

A phone with the Google Search app, showing the new “follow” option
announced alongside a new user-centered information feed (image courtesy of
Google)

The feed also relies on Google’s algorithms, which find out about a user’s interests by combing through their search history, the videos they watch on YouTube, music downloaded via Google Play, and their use of all other Google services. Location data is also used, according to Google.

Google said it plans to offer the new feed for Search on laptops and PCs in the future.

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