Is Google’s New Homepage Discover Feed a Swing or a Miss?

Say goodbye to the unusually clean Google’s homepage as they have rolled out a new feature called Discover Feed.

You must be wondering what this new feature does. But worry not as we will be discussing it in details further down below. Also, we will let you know whether this new update is a hit or a miss.

In September, Google celebrated its 20th anniversary which also included the introduction of a new addition to Google’s homepage. This new edition in question is Discover Feed which shows articles, noteworthy news and YouTube trailers based on your search patterns.

This tool is good news for individuals who want to have content tailored according to their expectations. Also, for marketers who want to appear on the feed and generate traffic. But more on this down below!

What is Google’s Discover Feed?

In simpler terms, Discover Feed shows a series of articles right below the search bar. These articles are displayed in the form of information cards and are only available for mobile users. The content of these information cards deals with the current political affairs or relevant pop culture.

Moreover, the cards also show weather forecasts, sports information and other articles based on your search history. This update is a major development as Google has pretty much kept its homepage squeaky clean.

The idea behind Discover Feed is that Google wants to cut short the ‘searching processes’ by guessing your searches and presenting them in an organized way in the form of short news cards. These cards offer small bits, and once clicked, can offer more information.

Overall, this update is great but not without any bumps. Since it is still fairly new, Google needs to work on its algorithm to display relevant content.

Just like with websites, Discover Feed will also display articles and blogs from well-ranking websites. But since these guidelines are still under process, one cannot say for sure how to appear on the Feed just yet.

The great thing about Discover Feed is that it is customizable. This means that the users have more control over the kind of information they would prefer to see in their feed. If you do not like your current feed, customize the setting and you can see whatever you want to see.

It is that simple! But Google currently replaces that content with a similar type of content. So it is still not helpful at this stage.

Also, there is some concern surrounding the fake news as well. Many publication houses and social media networks have voiced their opinions on controlling fake news through algorithms.

With the Discover Feed, people are still unclear about how Google plans to approach this issue. Whether Google will monitor likes and comments, or introduce algorithms, it is not clear at this point.

All in all, Discover Feed is here with a mission – to provide users with the information they need.

As of now, Discover Feed is only available for US residents.

Google will soon announce dates for the international launch of Discover Feed.

Discover Feed from Users’ Point of View

• Discover Feed’s concept is nothing new. Pixel users have had a similar update for a while. Also, Google Chrome’s mobile browser has been offering a similar display of tailored content.
• Without any updates, Discover Feed is still problematic with its lack of advanced search algorithms.
• Both iOS and Android users can avail this tool.
• Its settings are easily customizable. Users can delete what they do not like and replace it with more favorable content.
• As already mentioned, users can easily turn it off if they do not like it.

Discover Feed from a Marketer’s Point of View

• With Discover Feed, it is all about less content. In the information section, Google prefers articles that are images/videos-based.
• Keeping in line with the previous point, high-definition videos and sharp images is what Discover wants on its feed.
• Discover Feed promotes content that has AMP format. This is another way of ensuring that users reach websites that are smoother and have less loading time.
• Discover Feed is made interesting with topic headers. So your feed will include panels about food photography, interior designing, etc. You can follow the headers by tapping them.
• Quality content is still not going out of fashion. This tool will show older content if that is what matches your search pattern.

What you should do to appear in the Discover Feed?

Discover Feed is still pretty new, so we cannot say for sure how someone can appear in the news feed. But evergreen content is preferred – content that is not new to the internet but is new to certain individuals.

Moreover, marketers who are ditching plain content in favor of videos and new visual content have nothing to worry about. This is because Discover Feed is designed to prefer and display visually attractive content.

If your content fits the category but is not appearing in the feed, try signing up for AMP. As we have mentioned earlier, AMP is great for web pages as it optimizes them for a smoother experience.

If you cannot produce evergreen content, you should analyze the available categories in the feed. Then, try to merge your style with those categories.

Through this way, you will not only produce fresh content but will also find yourself in the feed.

Conclusion

Being the world’s highest trafficked website, Google is always working to improve users’ experience. Just like all the previous tools, Discover Feed is great for people who are always looking for shortcuts.

Millions of people use Google’s search bar every day. So Discover Feed serves the purpose in the right way – by delivering curated content before a user has typed in anything.

Currently, Discover Feed is still in its development stages which mean that tons of updates are yet to come. With these updates, Discover’s policies and algorithms will be changed as well.

With each new update, you will enjoy a better and flawless version of the previous one. So it is more of a swing than a miss as the best is yet to come!

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