Google has come up with a new feature called “Google News Badges“. It’s available if you’re surfing the American version of Google News. Their intro sums it all up perfectly:
“Collect private badges for your favorite topics. The more you read, the more your badges level up: you can reach Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and finally Ultimate. Keep your badges to yourself — or show them off to your friends!
For example, if you keep reading articles about Seychelles, it will earn you a Bronze badge.”
I don’t really know the exact purpose of the badge. I think it’s got two main uses:
- to help Google identify your favourite topics and suggest related news topics you might be interested in reading
- to show off to your friends that you are an intellectual that reads, so hopefully it will encourage them to read more and also use that feature.
But you can read more from their site, and plus there’s a video that explains it also.
