Did Google Blow It with the Google News Redesign?
Update: The previous version can still be accessed at news.google.ca (Thanks Bob!).
Earlier in this week we covered the new version of Google News. It's normal to see a backlash against a redesign (see the reaction to Facebook redesigns for instance), but reaction to Google News' new layout has been resoundingly harsh. So far, Google isn't offering an option to revert back to the old version, unlike it did with its last major Gmail update. It seems Google's attempt to balance personalization and serendipity left fans of both unhappy.
The biggest complaint lies in the new layout itself, which users say is harder to scan. Previously, Google News had a three column top section with a two-column grid of stories below. Users could customize the arrangement of sections and a few sections were viewable at once, depending on the size of the monitor. The new layout has a wide center column with a "river of news" presentation of the primary Google News sections and unchangeable side columns containing newer features like trending topics, FastFlip, local news and Spotlight. Depending on the monitor used, only one section may be viewable at a time in the center column.
New Google News layout
Among users who value customization, the ability to rank news certain sources up or down (except, apparently, Associated Press) or arrange topics vertically in the center column does not make up for the rigidity of the other sections. One large annoyance that some users reported, including our researcher Deane Rimerman, is the disappearance of custom sections created in the old version of the site, leaving users to re-create each section. We were also unable to find an option to have news alerts sent by e-mail, though we could still create RSS feeds of searches. Users can still setup and mange news alerts through Google Alerts.
Previous version of Google News
One Google News user, who commented on our original post, told us via e-mail: "I had Google's news in one column, prioritized the way I liked it, and sections in the other, prioritized the same way. If I was looking for something professionally related, I could scan the one column; if I was taking a break and wanted to see the rest of the news, I could scan the other." With all news in one column, this isn't an option anymore.
Those who value serendipity say they benefited more from the old layout with several blocks of stories on different subjects on the screen at once than from the new layout. Spotlight should be the serendipity engine of the site, but the long, image-less list of headlines is below the fold on most monitors. It's more like a cluttered stack of newspaper clippings stashed off to the side of your desk than a showcase of stories you might otherwise miss.
The reaction to the new layout may signal a preference for dashboards over river of news views. Last year RWW's Marshall Kirkpatrick eulogized enterprise RSS. A couple people mentioned, with prescience, dashboards as the possible vector for future RSS adoption. In November of last year, Netvibes landed a deal to bring its dashboards into Sage's ERP software. It's reasonable to expect consumers to have similar preferences - after all, Netvibes started as a consumer oriented service.
So did Google blow it? Amber Case, a UX designer for Vertigo, says "Interfaces should not suddenly change. That's the equivalent of suddenly remodeling a favorite neighbor bar without telling anyone, except that the architecture was so different that the bathrooms are in a different place."
Case thinks users will get used to the new layout, but for now it's an agitation. "Now people have to navigate around glaciers of functionality that can't be moved. It's better to have an empty ocean that people can create their own islands of usefulness, and their own bridges between them," she says.
Many users say they're looking elsewhere for a news portal. Good Noows is cited often as an alternative to Google News, and Ask News has a layout very similar to the previous version of Google News.
Google News Fail macro generated with roflbot, new Google News screenshot via Google News, old Google News screenshot via Spy
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If you're looking for personalized news portal alternatives, you should also check out DailyMe at http://dailyme.com (Disclaimer: I work there.)
Case is wrong; it's not a matter of "getting used to the new layout," it's that Goggle News no longer provides the functions many of its users desire.
Layout is an annoyance; at least one user has fixed that with a CSS tweak in his browser.
But no longer having the ability to control special sections is a deal-breaker.
I can get news alerts elsewhere - and now will.
Look at that logo and tell me anyone in that company gets design.
That's great!
The lead Google UI guy that frustratingly left Google for Twitter has to be having the last laugh.
Check out http://earlyedd.com - it has a nice newspaper look & feel that is familiar to everybody. You get your relevant news edition so that you don't have to customize anything.
It's funny to see, that even if Google sees itself as a creative entity on its own, it clearly draws from the platform world. The new GNews is an obvious take on the Facebook NewsFeed (which, to be fair, was greatly inspired by the standard, wide-columned search interface, and the blog excerpt interfaces).
Personally I expect the outcries over the redesign will cool off shortly. The new interface does give less of an overview, but it provides for a more focused reading than the previous (portal) layout. As mentioned in the post, the reactions on the FB NewsFeed were definitely less than all positive, but i think it's safe to say that we would now never want to go back.
The question, perhaps, is how much we are willing/able to filter in our own minds while scanning a page, and how much we'd expect the news aggregator to do for us. How smart can the algorithms be, and how efficient the end-user setup.
Posted by: openid.anthon.se
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July 4, 2010 3:41 AM
i bet the best design is those who similar to REAL newspaper :-)
I do not like new interface. It makes Google News barely readable. it is very clunky.
I won't be using the redesigned Google News. The layout is a huge turn off, but that's not the only thing keeping me away. I now have much less control than before. The whole right column is a monstrosity that I have no way to delete.
Also, this new feature in the redesign that will "personalize" or "tailor" news articles on my page to “my interests” is ridiculous. I don't want that at all. The reason I liked Google News in the first place, was because it offered a wide range of topics from various news outlets. It exposed me to thoughts, opinions and issues I never would have gone looking for on my own. The "personalized" feature takes all that away. How can I be exposed to new ideas and issues when my news page is set to only display my supposed “interests”?
It’s just too much. I’m going elsewhere.
I don't like sports. I don't care about sports. At the top of the redesign is info about FIFA. I cannot remove it.
I liked being able to move to the top the news I was more interested in - World News, US News, Health, Sci/Tech and move other things below the "fold". I cannot do that any more.
I don't buy or read newspapers and relied on what Google could provide in the way of snips and links. I could then investigate in more detail.
Google News is no longer going to be my home page.
The new layout is absolutely impossible to scan. You have two columns of unorganized headlines, with the content in the left column having nothing to do with the content in the right column. Seems like there's twice as many headlines, but it takes four times longer to get through them because they're in no particular order. It's like somebody took a newspaper and threw it up in the air, and then once everything's settled on the ground, they ask you to scan it for the day's news.
Count me as a vote against the redesign. The Top Stories include almost nothing I want to see. It's trivia: The Russian spies, Al Gore's sexual harassment case, off-season football news. I don't want to see the Recent or Spotlight news either. I like soccer, but the World Cup doesn't need need to be on my news page: I know the score before I get to the page, and if the game's on, I'll be watching it. Weather? When I need to know I'll go look for it. And the new column format makes me scroll down twice as far to see the sections I wanted. Bad, bad move.
Thank you Google for driving us away with the epic fail that is your Google News redesign, thereby breathing new life into the traditional newspaper.
Does it matter about the design?I dont think anyone will lose any sleep over it will they?I they do shouldn't they be on a ledge some where?
I like the design and I'm an avid google news devotee. I feel like an outsider now. :(
This is not a matter of preference, it's a flat out failure from a User Interface perspective.
Thanx for the alternative suggestions. Previous Google interface worked perfectly for me. First thing in AM, quick scan; if market was acting funny, quick scan; before bed quick scan. No more quick scans. Google News has taken itself back by five years. Clunky POS.
I don't mind the new layout. I think it looks good.
Google Is The New Toyota - Unintended Acceleration To Mediocrity.
Google gave the car keys to some geek engineer who ran amuck with every HTML toy in the arsenal - and lost.
They totally failed to consider the millions of us who made Google News part of our morning coffee ritual - and brought a slide-rule to the world's breakfast table.
And when we complained - they stuck the damn thing in our eye and said "what's your problem"?
Google is completely tone deaf to the millions of ADULTS who want a no nonsense morning news experience - and gave total reign to a geek with an attitude.
When God wanted to curse the wicked in the Bible He said "I will appoint children as your masters - the sights you see will drive you mad".
Rob
Or should I say - Google is the new BP - and their CEO is the new Tony Hayward.
I agree - its not about getting used to the new layout - there are some pretty important Usability guidelines that have been ignored here, i wonder what googles reasons were? and yes, functionality seems to be missing? does that make it easier or does it just confuse regular users?
Gentlemen:
The google news page is very nice! What an amazing service to have available, and for free! Now, I know that it is somewhat unseemly to complain about a free service, but I much preferred the format you provided last month. Would it trouble you too much to provide a link to a site that served up the old format? Thank you in advance.
Very truly yours,
Joe GXC
We have all missed what Google is doing. The default page sucks. It's terrible. But most of that can be fixed IF YOU LOG IN. If you log in, Google can track what news you read linked to your name. And since you are logged in, if you do a search, again, the searches you make are now linked to your name, not just an IP address. What a marketing tool! This is even better than Facebook's Beacon!
Would Google do this? Of course! As it is, they read your email (allegedly only by a computer, but by their admission to provide a more targeted set of ads in your mail).
I hate it.
What prompted this ? Was there a groundswell of requests to google that I missed asking to change their news portal to this ball of confusion ?
I hate it. Please bring back the old design or at least give us the option to do so individually.
Thank you.
Sometimes I think that Google likes doing stuff too simple, but it doesn't mean that simple is always a better option.
@Ed Lipchus:
I don't want to freaking log in (and have what I read "tracked" and my name "linked" to anything) every time I want to scan the news thank you very much. Geez !
I agree with others, it is really hard to scan.
My biggest complaint is that the old Goolge News homepage had a nice section just for local news from my city. Now it is just a small little section that I had a hard time finding.
If you go to http://news.google.ca the old format is there
Worst thing about the new Google News format: Javascript. I hate scrolling down and having boxes slide open on me, it disturbs my reading and makes me nervous. For the first time in a long time I'm looking for another news source.
Companies like Google live and die by seemingly tiny human interface differences. Google's redesign is a Google killer.
Thanks for the tip on ASK.Com. It is not as good as old google page but way better than the train wreck they now have. Sorry Google, I switched my home page and won't be back.
Thank You for the response and updated article. I have set Google news Canada as a bookmark and it was like seeing an old friend but it is slanted toward Canadian news of course, I'll just have to see if I can tweek it to my interests. My home page will continue to be News.Ask.com
With the continued firestorm of criticism against the format change I can't understand the unwillingness on Google News to at least offer the the old format as an option.
Amber Case suggests that "users will get used to the new layout" well when something gets dumped on you and they ignore all user input to change, a good percentage of readers are not going to have the time or energy to go elsewhere that doesn't make it better.
My only hope would be that their news page hit count goes down and stays down, that is our only option as the consumers, I will be checking in occasionally to see if it has gone back to the old format but I will also make it a point that when I exit the Google news page it will be to go to News.Ask.com
From my standpoint I could probably be persuaded back if I could at least have back the 2 column layout that fit my wide screen monitor. Although it would be nice if at the same time they got rid of that right side list of old news.
I didn't know the terminology but I guess I'm just an "old dog" that hates to have new tricks shoved down his throat.
"Dashboards over streams for me"
Harry A.
The "new" Google News SUCKS. I've had the old version as my home page for as long as I can remember, now I'm a Canadian version viewer...Shame really.
Hey Google, your news layout is pure EVIL!
Hows the traffic spike on Gnews Canada?
How come the rest of the world gets the original layout?
I have to say, I was appalled when I went to Google News after being on vacation for a week. I honestly don't think this is an improvement. It seems to have lost functionality and forced a customization that isn't really customizable.
What really irritates me (and I know this may be a minor thing) is that our internet connection goes through our corporate office hundreds of miles away so the 'local' news and weather are for that area. Even more infuriating is that I've spent an hour trying to figure out how to get rid of it or at least change it to an area more 'local'. It doesn't appear to let you unless you login. I don't have a Google account and I don't want one. Why do I have to look at news and weather from a city hundreds of miles away? Why can't I get rid of it? Can't I just look at the normal stuff?
I also don't have a Facebook or MySpace account or Twitter or any other type of social networking. I don't care for them, I hate the format, and I hate the idea that I'm basically putting myself out on the Internet for anyone and everyone to see. That's basically what I see happening with Google's new news site. Yes, previously my web surfing can be traced back to me with IP addresses and information from our corporate IT, but it's unlikely anyone would go that far to find out what news stories I read. 'Signing in' is somehow very offensive to me. Can't I just look?
I also agree that the format makes it much harder to skim through. Again, can't I just look?
There is definitely a misconception in the redesign of the site. They're assuming (since social networking is so popular) that we all want a Twitter or blog like format. How can I get back to the old format? How can I make the new format work for me by deleting or removing things like the 'local' news and weather? If there are people that actually like the new format, that's great for them, but how can the rest of us customize it back to what we want? If customization and personalization is the impetus for this, it has backfired. My opinion (and apparently that of many others) is that if you want to give more personal customization, giving them the choice to leave it like was is a personal customization.
I want a synoptic view of the news, not a stream of unrelated topics.
I will never use a page that moves around as I try to read it.
I don't care what facebook does, because facebook doesn't matter, but news matters.
I really dislike the "top news" appearing at the head of the column. I don't like it; I don't use it; I want to get rid of it but I can't.
Who at google thought it was in my best interest to have so much real estate taken up without even asking me? First, do no harm? Does that include giving users agita?
Getting really tired of this.
The new Google News is *less* customizable than the old, not more. And the new layout is unhelpful, to put it mildly. The thousands of msgs commenting on the change at Google's support forum are virtually unanimous in their opposition to the new design; but Google is apparently completely deaf to its users. The worst of it is that they could easily restore the original format--or make it an option--but they stubbornly refuse to do so. Reminds me of the Ribbon in Microsoft Office, only more so.
I have changed my home page and now get my news from elsewhere.
I have been a fan of everything Google for years now. I have a strong trust in Google.
But this is a royal disappointing fail on their part. Whatever happened to focusing on the user experience??
They are acting as if they can care less right now.
it was Google, now it's giggle, ya see I already had it "personalize" and "tailored". so now giggle said to hell with it's users. our way or the highway, I say O.K. so much for what the users want. I have read only a handful of post from those who like this redesign, and I bet that some how they are with Giggle, but I have read thousands who ""HATE"" the changes. I left Yahoo because of their crap, so I guess I will leave Giggle to.
When the buzz world "portal" came out in 96-97, search engines rushed to become a portal for everything. All of them failed miserably expect Yahoo. But cost for Y! is to loose its search leading role to Google - BIG mistake.
History is repeating itself, now we are in the social gold rush - Google need to decide if they want to be Facebook #2 or stay Google.
Google homepage is the most successful page to date... because its still doing what it promised, good search results and nothing else. When I want to search, I don't want to read news
However, G did a great job providing some content by adding the small links on top including news. I would interrupt my search flow, just glance at latest news by clicking over news. The new complicated layout does not allow that.... and I feel like going to excite.com in 2000 when I could not even find their search box. Excite was a great search engine at its time but decided to run with the portal rush. Excite stock rose to $400+ per share ... the company was sold for $10M for years later - but I wonder what would happenned if they stayed and focused on search.
Google, if you want to play in the social networking... just buy Facebook and keep doing what you do best.
Can not even tell you how much I am growing to HATE google lately. They need a new motto.
"We do what we want and screw you."