Google Inc (GOOG) Now “Pushes” Hyper Local News to Android

FastCompany says that this isn’t the first time Google has plunged into the local news pool.  Back in 2010, they attempted to link citizen journalism with local TV news channels, with their initiative uReport, delivering footage from a person’s cellphone to San Francisco’s ABC7 News’ YouTube page.  This was unsuccessful because the demand wasn’t high enough to create website traffic.  Google Now can be looked at as a much more advanced version of the idea uReport envisioned:  Customised content delivered to a local outlet.  But instead of having to find it, it finds you.

Salvador Rodriguez of LA Times states that “this could be a boom for local news outlets, especially those geotagging their articles, as Google would present their stories based on location”.   This means that the local news outlets who are more active in SEO will start to become more relevant when Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s algorithms search for local news articles.  The stories that are tagged are the stories that will get pushed.

Integrating Local News into “Google Glass”

Google’s newest piece of hardware, Google Glass, could benefit from this new feature of Google Now as well.  Expected to be released sometime in 2014, Google Glass is a pair of “digital sunglasses” that allow users to perform smart phone-esque functions, like taking pictures or videos, translating foreign languages, getting directions or the time, sending text messages or asking whatever is on your mind.  Integrating Google Now could be a compelling feature of the futuristic eye-wear and bring the hardware one step further.  Users would be instantly notified on crucial local news that may affect themselves or their business.

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