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Google News is getting a facelift, complete with AMP, YouTube videos

Google Play Newsstand could be killed off as a result of the new, unified News platform.
By
May 4, 2018
Google News on a smartphone
TL;DR
  • Google is expected to reveal a rejigged Google News app, featuring YouTube videos and Newsstand functionality.
  • The Newsstand service could be killed off as a result of the unification drive.
  • Google is expected to reveal the new service at I/O 2018, along with plenty of other news.

Google offers a number of ways to consume news with the likes of Google News, YouTube, and the Google Play Newsstand. Now, the search company wants to put all of these services in one place as part of an overhauled News app, it has been reported.

The revamped Google News service will include videos from YouTube’s news section, as well as features from the Newsstand platform, according to Ad Age, citing “people familiar with the plans.”

“There are a lot of Google services where you find news, and what they’re trying to do is bring it all under one brand,” the website quoted one publishing executive as saying.

One service to get the chop?

The Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) framework will be used to serve up articles on the new platform, speeding up page loading times. The streamlined web technology currently powers mobile pages from major publishers, as well as a growing list of Google services.

A new Google News app will apparently be released as a result of this initiative, but the desktop and mobile sites are also tipped to reflect the new changes. There is one possible casualty, as Google is expected to shutter the Newsstand service.

The Newsstand app itself was formed in 2013 after Google combined its Currents app and Google Magazine service. It gained a few new features over the years, such as real-time sports updates and a user interface upgrade.

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The overhauled Google News will be revealed at Google I/O 2018 next week, the publication suggests. A rejigged Google News app won’t be the only announcement at I/O either, as rumors suggest we could see more Android P news, additional Google Assistant features, and an Android TV stick.