Google Podcast gets Personalized Audio News Recommendations [Liz Gannes @ Google]

“Your News Update” is coming to Google Podcast as announced by Liz Gannes, Product Manager News at Google. “Your News Update” was originally introduced in late 2019 for the Google Assistant.

When you say, “Hey Google, play me the news” on any Assistant-enabled phone or smart speaker, Your News Update will begin with a mix of short news stories chosen in that moment based on your interests, location, user history and preferences, as well as the top news stories out there.

https://www.blog.google/products/news/your-news-update/

Now, Google also integrates the audio news recommender system into Google Podcast:

When you open the Google Podcasts app and navigate to the Explore tab, you can subscribe to Your News Update and listen to a mix of short news stories chosen in that moment based on your interests, location, user history and preferences. If you’re a music fan living in Los Angeles, for example, you might hear a local story on Governor Gavin Newsom’s latest announcement, and then a review of the latest Katy Perry album, followed by  a deep dive of the upcoming election. 

This tailored experience is made possible by applying Google News’s deep understanding of news stories to the audio format and personalizing what you hear. To start, we analyze what’s being said within a given audio file, then apply machine learning techniques to understand how the people, places and things in this story link together and relate to a particular person’s interests. This technology enables us to create playlists of stories that are always up-to-date and customized for everyone who’s using Your News Update. This format helps people hear stories from a variety of local and national publishers all in one place. 

https://blog.google/products/assistant/your-news-update-google-podcasts/