Google News redesign unsurprisingly angers everyone

Google News has been redesigned, and its interface is sleek, clean, customisable and universally hated.

One of the main features Google News is touting is news from “diverse perspectives” — meaning that related articles will now feature news from both sides of the aisle. These articles are then grouped together in a card format.

But it seems this isn’t the biggest gripe users have with the change: many think the layout is slow, wastes space, and makes it more difficult to consume news quickly.

In the redesign, Google has changed the sidebar to a customisable navigation column so that the categories of news a user is interested are easily accessible. At the top is a new navigation bar with “headlines,” “local” and “for you” sections. The local section lets one add multiple specific locations through which to filter news. The “for you” uses customisable interests to show news best suited to the user.

‘OMG new “Google News” is horrible! Where’s custom search?’

Also included is a “fact check” block that features articles geared towards stories dedicated to finding the truth. These usually feature sources like Snopes and the US Politifact. 

Videos and tweets have gained prominence, being labelled with “most referenced” and placed in related coverage cards.

The update works well with US news, but for locally sourced content “related articles” are poorly collected. As of writing, the top card for South Africa was one dedicated to the ANC — the ruling party that drives the majority of political news.

As is customary with any major interface change, users have taken to Twitter to complain about the update.

Some had constructive criticism.

Others had only their anger.

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