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October 23, 2009 8:12 AM PDT

Google adds more personalization to Reader

by Don Reisinger
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Google has added new personalization features to Reader, its RSS feed aggregator, the company wrote in a blog post Thursday.

One new feature is dubbed Popular Items. Using algorithms, Reader will "find top-rising images, videos and pages from anywhere (not just your subscriptions)." From there, the app will lump all those pieces in the new Popular Items section. Based on a user's subscriptions and what someone is reading, Reader orders those stories by what it thinks a person likes best.

Reader's recommendations have been moved to the app's Explore section. Google also renamed it Recommended Sources. Like before, that feature will employ the user's Reader Trends and Web History to find a list of feeds he or she might like.

To make it easier for users to find the information they're most likely to care about, all Reader feeds now feature a sort option called Magic. According to Google, Magic "reorders items in the feed based on your personal usage, and overall activity in Reader, instead of default chronological order." Google said that the ranking is tailored to the user. The more the user clicks the "like" and "share" buttons on stories, the better the Magic sort will be.

Here is the Magic setting in action:

Google Reader (Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

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by ghostofitpast October 23, 2009 9:40 AM PDT
I just took a look at it. Quite honestly, my problem is that I am already looking at too many articles. What I really need is suggestions for sources that I can drop and a better filter for the ones I maintain. I can then stick to word-of-mouth for exploring new ones!
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by dadangsulaeman November 1, 2009 11:26 PM PST
nice info...oh ya..jangan lupa kunjungi blog saya di <a href="http://bolehngeblog.blogspot.com"><b>Bolehngeblog</b></a> ya..trims
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