Google News revamped to get more personal

Google on Wednesday overhauled its news website to tailor pages to individual interests of readers.

"We're revamping the Google News homepage with several changes designed to make the news that you see more relevant to you," software engineer Kevin Stolt said in a blog post.

"We're also trying to better highlight interesting stories you didn't know existed and to make it easier for you to share stories through social networks."

The "heart" of the page was "News for you," a stream of headlines customized based on interests that users specify when they personalize the service, according to Stolt.

"You can help us get it right by using the 'Edit personalization' box to specify how much you're interested in Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports or any subject you want to add."

People can also specify which news sources they like to see more or less often.

Google News also features a section showcasing major breaking stories and another spotlighting feature stories attracting lasting interest.

The website redesign included making it easy to share stories with friends using social networking services Facebook and Twitter along with Google Buzz and Google Reader, according to Stolt.

Google billed the changes as the biggest overhaul of Google News since the service launched in 2002.