Google Is Experimenting With Article Recommendations In Chrome (venturebeat.com)

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Google Is Experimenting With Article Recommendations In Chrome (venturebeat.com)

Posted by BeauHD on Saturday February 20, 2016 @03:36PM from the experimentation dept.

Google is working on a feature that would recommend articles directly in its browser. The suggestions would appear on the new tab page in Chrome for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. "We're always experimenting with new features in Chrome, but have nothing new to announce at this time," a Google spokesperson told VentureBeat. It's not clear what the new functionality will be called, though multiple tickets on Chromium Code Reviews mention a "Morning Reads" service and a "ChromeReader" feature.

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This was it folks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 15:40 · Score: 5, Insightful

This was what Google Chrome was destined to do at its inception nearly a decade ago: to become yet another advertising channel for Google. With "recommended" articles comes the opportunity to push "promoted" articles as well,
1. Re:This was it folks. by davester666 · 2016-02-20 16:09 · Score: 0
  
  you only get recommended articles if nobody is willing to pay put a promoted article in front of you.
  
  --
  Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
2. Re:This was it folks. by KGIII · 2016-02-20 16:24 · Score: 1
  
  Opera has "discover" on its home page and that can be used to recommend sites if you want to use it. It's optional and I have not used it so I have no idea how good it is.
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
3. Re:This was it folks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 20:22 · Score: 0
  
  *sighs* We can't even attract the quality trolls. We get stuck with this... It's a damned shame, we used to actually get skilled, creative, and effective trolls. Now? We get this... I call upon you, you beautiful people, to up your game and actually do quality trolling. I mean, c'mon now... You can do better than that. You didn't even make fun of my mother.
  I'm not even sure if you're making fun of my gender or my sexuality. It's vague and just reeks of speed. If your ranks are so thin that you don't have time to devote to a good troll, I'm thinking that you should concentrate on quality rather than quantity. If there's an imbalance in the supply and demand in trolling, that's probably a sign of more troubling matters. You're going to need to rekindle hope and attract attention and the best way to do that is probably quality instead of quantity.
  Here, I'll even post this as an AC so we're on equal footing.
4. Re:This was it folks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 21:27 · Score: 0
  
  So, remove ads from the sidebar in Google Search results, add them straight into Google Chrome?
  Although this is nothing new, older versions of Opera (6.x etc.) also displayed ads straight in the browser.
5. Re:This was it folks. by Alumoi · 2016-02-21 00:21 · Score: 1
  
  And what's the difference between a recommended, promoted, sponsored or pure advertisment article?
6. Re:This was it folks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 01:24 · Score: 0
  
  Agreed. The minimalism-flamebaitism pieces are getting annoying. I mean, minimalism isn't bad itself (fan of the apps and cow guys here, at least when on-topic), and flamebaitism can be good as well when combined with elements of cubism or impressionalism. Ethanol Fueled is an example of classic flamebaitist style and sensibilities. Then of course there's the realism approach of Cold Fjord's constructivist pieces.
  Trolling is art, people! You can't just throw a poorly-conceived insult out there and expect to get the coveted +5, Troll mod!
  I guess I'll post AC too.
7. Re:This was it folks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 03:18 · Score: 0
  
  Whether google's corpus of scientists, backed by decades of research into psychological warfare and nearly a decade and a half of your data, thinks those words will trick you into believing and accepting the information provided. Half the game is getting you confused and keeping you confused and hoping at the end, once all the bits are in your head, they come together the way they want.
  Go look up the studies of psychovisuals and psychoacoustics; use the file:pdf switch on google with those. Some of the stuff published out of big fortune 500 companies is madman-level insane.
  The problem with psychological warfare is that it doesn't discriminate between targets, especially those using it, and there's no way for someone to tell if they are waging war on themselves. Here, google's trying to change that slowly by pinpointing exactly what will work on whom.
  The entire concept of instant search was a ruse for starting this insane project where google shows you what the think you want to see because people tend to buy more when they see only the things they want to see. I think most of us are old enough to remember google pre-2010 when there was no instant search, and back then, searches would actually complete and you'd find useful things. I'd also argue the entire movement towards turning on SSL has nothing to do with fooling the NSA and everything to do with having clients use consistent client-certificates across multiple websites to track them, although that one appears to be a failed project.
  This too will be a failed project; you can't exploit people forever and hope finite resources won't just up and run out. Eventually people decide google's advertising is just plain evil, and they hit the knob and turn it off, or they do what most of us have done and decide advertising itself is just plain evil and turn all of it off. I've been doing that since the 90's starting with proxomitron (which is still a relevant app BTW).
8. Re:This was it folks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 03:26 · Score: 0
  
  Fuck off.
9. Re:This was it folks. by Hylandr · 2016-02-21 05:25 · Score: 1
  
  Damn that's a lot of koolaid to take in one shot...
  
  --
  ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
10. Re:This was it folks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 05:46 · Score: 0
  
  Yeah but that's not "in" the browser itself. That's a site.
11. Re:This was it folks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 07:15 · Score: 0
  
  Yep. Anyone who believes Google is somehow good and altruistic is deluded. So many Google cheerleaders on Slashdot.
12. Re:This was it folks. by jimbo · 2016-02-21 07:41 · Score: 1
  
  One of my most hated words the last few years is "Trending". The idea that I would want to watch something just because it is currently popular upsets me.
  I'm not trying to be different, I just don't like to have shit pushed upon me.
13. Re:This was it folks. by Hognoxious · 2016-02-21 09:15 · Score: 1
  
  Same as the difference between a secretary and a PA, a piece of shit on somebody else's server and a cloudware service fartpolio, fishfingers and goujons du poisson panés...
  
  --
  Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
14. Re:This was it folks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 10:43 · Score: 0
  
  That's right. Trolling is a art!
15. Re:This was it folks. by malditaenvidia · 2016-02-21 16:22 · Score: 1
  
  Those older versions of Opera cost money, it was the free versions that displayed ads.
16. Re:This was it folks. by Hylandr · 2016-02-21 16:43 · Score: 1
  
  ^ This guy gets it.
  
  --
  ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
17. Re:This was it folks. by KGIII · 2016-02-21 16:50 · Score: 1
  
  Nah, it's in the browser. They moved it again. Open the default new-tab page and scroll down, it might be slow loading. It used to even get its own tab. I'm not sure when they moved it to there but that's where it is now. I don't actually see that page, I open a default ELOG instance on a new tab opening.
  
  --
  "So long and thanks for all the fish."
18. Re:This was it folks. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-23 03:58 · Score: 0
  
  Couldn't agree more with this statement!
Fool me twice, shame on me. by ChunderDownunder · 2016-02-20 15:40 · Score: 1

Chrome Reader is just a knock-off of Google Reader, a product they discontinued several years ago despite a loyal fan base but this time only available as a Chrome add-on?
Thanks but no thanks.
1. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 16:03 · Score: 0
  
  you go girlfrieeeeeeeeeend!
2. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by Frosty+Piss · 2016-02-20 16:09 · Score: 1
  
  Chrome Reader is just a knock-off of Google Reader, a product they discontinued several years ago despite a loyal fan base but this time only available as a Chrome add-on?
  Thanks but no thanks.
  If you liked it so much in its past incarnation, why not the new version? Obviously Google, like many, is switching to web interfaces. "It's the wave of the future".
  
  --
  If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
3. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 16:19 · Score: 0
  
  when everything is pushed to the cloud, i'll push myself away from my computer. and fuck smart phones.
4. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by ChunderDownunder · 2016-02-20 16:24 · Score: 1
  
  Google Reader did have an HTML interface.
  I have already switched to theoldreader, which works in Firefox so I won't be adopting a chrome-only solution with unknown longevity.
  Back story
5. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by ls671 · 2016-02-20 16:52 · Score: 2
  
  Hmm... you will be fucking smart phones? Are you currently fucking your computer and planning to switch? Please explain...
  
  --
  Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
6. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · 2016-02-20 17:16 · Score: 1
  
  He's bi-curious.
7. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by imidan · 2016-02-20 17:20 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I used Google Reader for several years before it was discontinued. I've changed to CommaFeed, an open-source alternative that I can run on a hosted VM. I won't be changing back to a Google solution even if it is offered; I've already learned from losing that service and others that Google cannot be relied upon to sustain their services.
8. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by Maow · 2016-02-20 17:47 · Score: 2
  
  He's bi-curious.
  I heard he's into trans-sisters.
  At least, that's what it sounded like. Eye kant spel gud.
9. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by ls671 · 2016-02-20 17:53 · Score: 1
  
  Or just getting frustrated in the relationship with his computer and he plans to have groovy orgies with "smart phones" instead to help forget about him.
  
  --
  Everything I write is lies, read between the lines.
10. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 19:53 · Score: 0
  
  No, he's iCurious.
11. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by Alumoi · 2016-02-20 20:21 · Score: 1
  
  His computer doesn't vibrate, that's the reason.
12. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 00:54 · Score: 0
  
  Maybe they should not have killed of Google Reader?
  Better Chrome integration would have helped for sure.
13. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by klapek · 2016-02-21 01:46 · Score: 1
  
  They didn't mention RSS.
14. Re:Fool me twice, shame on me. by fluffernutter · 2016-02-21 04:08 · Score: 1
  
  I loved Google Reader too back in the day, but I stopped using it when I found out they track you down to the time you spend on each article. Made my stomach turn.
  
  --
  Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Oh god, these are ads. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 15:43 · Score: 0

These are ads.
Tor Browser works for me! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 15:56 · Score: 0

It's updated frequently by people who care about privacy, and TBB has some hardened releases available now.
Firefox tried this... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 16:18 · Score: 0

I seem to recall that Firefox tried the same thing. Previous versions recommended sites and links. The backlash from users were severe enough that the "feature" was removed. It would seem that Google is imitating Firefox's bad ideas.
1. Re:Firefox tried this... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 16:51 · Score: 0
  
  Sounds like something whose benefits are best taken care of with an add-on or even simply as a web page (like back in the days of Google Reader). This is pretty obviously little more than a glorified RSS reader, to which Google will be pushing advertisements in addition to occasional stories that algorithms will determine we want to read, whether we want to or not (what's wrong with you, user, why don't you like Kanye Kardashian articles?). Google killed the original Reader, one of its most useful products, because RSS wasn't pushing to users; sounds like they've found a way to bypass their earlier difficulties, pump in some ads, and tie in their spying on user habits to make it all more irritating.
2. Re:Firefox tried this... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 01:59 · Score: 0
  
  Hm... It's not that it was a bad idea per se, but it got quite a bad press even before it was released.
  - It only showed recommended pages as long as you didn't have enough visited pages.
  - You could disable it with a single click, if I remember correctly.
  - It may have generated some (sorely needed) revenue for Mozilla.
  - It might have been quite valuable for non-internet-savvy users.
  I actually liked it. And I'm by no means a newbie. I've been surfing the web ans administering *nix servers for more than 20 years.
  But then again, I'm also a long-time Mozilla user/contributor...
Next Comes Chrome Beta by retroworks · 2016-02-20 16:56 · Score: 1

And everyone screams to RTFA. I think /. has this covered.

--
Gently reply
1. Re:Next Comes Chrome Beta by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 18:55 · Score: 0
  
  i like a little pee pee on my bread.
So long as, Teh G continues to respect, my privacy by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 17:09 · Score: 0

I think, Teh G can go full speed, ahead with what, ever Teh G can get, away,, with..
linux mint backdoored ISOs WARNING! (plz FP this) by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 17:23 · Score: 1

"I'm sorry I have to come with bad news.
We were exposed to an intrusion today. It was brief and it shouldn't impact many people, but if it impacts you, it's very important you read the information below.
What happened?
Hackers made a modified Linux Mint ISO, with a backdoor in it, and managed to hack our website to point to it.
Does this affect you?
As far as we know, the only compromised edition was Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon edition.
If you downloaded another release or another edition, this does not affect you. If you downloaded via torrents or via a direct HTTP link, this doesn't affect you either.
Finally, the situation happened today, so it should only impact people who downloaded this edition on February 20th.
How to check if your ISO is compromised?"
Continued @: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2...
I tried a beta of this feature by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 18:08 · Score: 0

I tried a beta of Chrome's website suggestions. Strangely enough, after visiting Slashdot, Chrome kept suggesting goatse.cx as one of the recommendations.
Cool by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 18:10 · Score: 1

I've always wanted clickbait with more native functionality.
Bound to succeed! by Bearhouse · 2016-02-20 19:51 · Score: 1

Since I hear they've hired Samzenpus and Timothy as the Eds.
This is great news! by turkeyfish · 2016-02-20 19:53 · Score: 0

For those who can't think for themselves. George Orwell couldn't have predicted it better. You know it's coming and Donald Trump's face will be on the big screen everywhere. It's a done deal, with those who don't like it fired permanently.
1. Re:This is great news! by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 21:13 · Score: 0
  
  The thing is, most people already consume the internet like this. They go to their favourite portal / ‘news’ sites and read the articles there. If you own one of those sites, you can decide what millions of people think. Google is trying to use it's position in the browser market to skip the queue as it were.
2. Re:This is great news! by 110010001000 · 2016-02-21 00:20 · Score: 1
  
  I agree. Very Orwellian. What if someone delivered to your house a pre-selected set of articles for you to read that was curated by a company and editors? And even worse, what if that was your only set of articles available in your town? America would turn into the USSR if that happened. At least that is what I read in the newspaper today.
Re:linux mint backdoored ISOs WARNING! (plz FP thi by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 19:56 · Score: 0

They finally detected the SyStEmD installation? Dude, it was infected a long time ago!
spank the walrus by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 20:09 · Score: 0

"It's a done deal, with those who don't like it fired permanently."
If anyone is capable of pushing the mark of the beast...
biff in back to the future 2 is just too prophetic in comparison to ignore...
Ding ding ding! What do we have for her, Johnny? by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 20:27 · Score: 0

laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaid back!
Another new Google Ads ? by amyreyna · 2016-02-20 20:50 · Score: 1

The recommendation comes for free, then it starts to find how it work. The recommendation only for paid article only, also need to find a way how it work, so the income from google adsense will get more
K.I.S.S. by sanf780 · 2016-02-20 21:30 · Score: 1

How about KISS? It is hard these days to get an OS that is only an OS, and a web browser that is only a web browser. The OS should let me run software, and the web browser should show me a document stored somewhere else.
1. Re:K.I.S.S. by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 22:02 · Score: 0
  
  Go back to bed grandpa!
2. Re:K.I.S.S. by Blaskowicz · 2016-02-21 02:17 · Score: 1
  
  I'd rather have the OS show documents, so that we go back to reading safe, to the point documents. Then the web browser can be used to run applications only.
Filtered news, what everyone needs by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-20 23:09 · Score: 0

We already have too much filtered news in America. People on the far left watch what they want, and the right watches Fox, Breitbart, or Drudge. So Google most likely takes this same political and social behavior farther. Let's give people only the news they want. In essence its why we have the losers in government we have.
We ignore the corruption, lies, broken promises, failed policies because those people are on our side. But demonize those same things with the other side.
You really have to sift through news today to get any sense of what is really going on. The only way Google can help this, is actually finding unbiased and accurate news not built on some agenda. If there is such news anymore.
1. Re:Filtered news, what everyone needs by Alumoi · 2016-02-21 00:29 · Score: 1
  
  We already have too much filtered news everywhere in the world because people ask for it.
  We don't want to be reminded of poverty, coruption, insanitary living conditionsand so on.
  We want to be lied by our masters! We want blood, sex, violence! We want entertainment!
  We don't want to have to think for ourself, it makes our heads hurt.
  The romans did it right: give them bread and circus and the population will be docile.
Edge by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 00:16 · Score: 0

Guess it's time to start looking at Microsoft Edge now
1. Re: Edge by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 00:50 · Score: 0
  
  I'll stick to Lynx, thanks.
2. Re: Edge by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 02:07 · Score: 0
  
  With all that crappy sites out there the web is barely usable on Lynx anymore.
  *sigh!*
3. Re: Edge by basscomm · 2016-02-21 03:34 · Score: 1
  
  With all that crappy sites out there the web is barely usable on Lynx anymore.
  *sigh!*
  If a site doesn't care enough to have a text-only failsafe mode (you know, in case javascript is turned of, adblockers are on, something from their CDN didn't load, or, heaven forbid, you're using something like a screen reader because you're visually impaired, or some other issue), then I'd say that site probably isn't worth anyone's time anyway.
  
  --
  http://crummysocks.com
Bloat by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 01:28 · Score: 0

And here comes the bloatware..
Why choose by koan · 2016-02-21 02:11 · Score: 1

When you can be force fed.
Convenience is the death of free will.

--
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Google Reader by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 03:07 · Score: 0

A few years back Google seemed much more exciting because of the breadth, difference, and competition within their own ecosystem. Now that its been tightened up quite a bit, starting around 2009 or so, things have felt rather stifiling and controlled.
For example: although speculative, it seemed as though Google Reader was killed off to help drive people to Google Plus. What that kind of behavior does, is drive me away from Google.
But hey! Now Google can auto tell me what I want to read, so there's that. /s
Chrome Copies Firefox For A Change by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 03:23 · Score: 0

Yup. It's good(?) to see Chrome copy Firefox for once instead of Firefox always trying to be Chrome.
None the less the concept sucks! Unfortunately I can see that Google will be unwilling to remove the "feature" and Firefox will now bring it back because users will not be able to leave them to get away from it.
Enjoy your built in browser ads! It's going to be a challenge to block these.
INB4 that APK pissant starts spamming about blocking Google and Firefox.
Oh joy by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 04:26 · Score: 0

Now we get bullshit "social" clickbait built straight into the browser. Microsoft did it with Edge and now Google are following suit.
1. Re: Oh joy by Anonymous Coward · 2016-02-21 08:53 · Score: 0
  
  The first time Facebook popped up a notification in Chrome I nearly uninstalled both.
So this is useful economic activity? by plopez · 2016-02-21 12:50 · Score: 1

Spending a decade of expensive programer time, data collection, UX design etc. to create a virtual bookstore employee? What a waste.

--
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+