Google announced today that it is bringing a “News near you” feature to Google News for mobile, allowing mobile consumers to easily see news relevant to their locations. SEO marketers should consider that this feature means news content marketing could bring them one step closer to shoppers in their neighborhoods.
To use the feature, Android and iPhone owners can opt to share their location with Google when they visit Google News. Then, the news aggregator will prioritize content included in Google News that is related to topics or places near a consumer.
The search giant explains that it analyzes the sources and content of articles to determine whether news is relevant to local mobile consumers, and where the news provider is located is a leading factor. For neighborhood businesses that provide locally optimized, high-quality content about recent and trending industry developments, “News near you” could become a platform for brand discovery.
This development speaks to the value of both mobile SEO and news content marketing. Data from Google indicates that smartphone owners are increasingly searching the mobile web, and the search giant has recently started providing linked headlines within general news-related searches. Plus, marketing experts at the recent ad:tech San Francisco conference agreed that news content effectively engages audience.
