Google News announced a few new changes to its formatting and capabilities. It now features larger images and when a 
story is expanded the Google+ comments from the viewer’s friends will appear. There is also a new real time coverage page that will continually update with the latest comments instead of the normal page that updates trending stories.
These are all positive developments for the news service, but only the Google+ feature adds benefits to the social media agency. The News service is not ad supported, but with the Google+ feature it is now possible for brands to intervene into this service. Related stories can be commented on and then they will appear when a user goes to the news service.
If Google News does grow as Google is trying to do, then this ability will become even more important as a backdoor into digital marketing. The other benefit of Google+ comments is the ability to gather more data. Not only is Google now able to see what stories people are looking at (a service it emphasizes with its badges) but now it is able to measure what viewer’s friends are also commenting on, and based on clicks Google is able to see which friends are more important or which stories are shared within Google+ circles. As long as viewership is high, then there is a lot of data to be gleaned from this adjustment. All of that data better helps Google deliver quality advertising and data for the social media agency.