"We're taking Google News out of beta! When we launched the English-language edition in September 2002, we entered untested waters with a grand experiment in news browsing - using computers to organize the world's news in real time and providing a bird's eye view of what's being reported on virtually any topic. By presenting news "clusters" (related articles in a group), we thought it would encourage readers to get a broader perspective by digging deeper into the news -- reading ten articles instead of one, perhaps -- and then gain a better understanding of the issues, which could ultimately benefit society. A bit more than three years later, we offer 22 regional editions in 10 languages, and have a better sense of how people use Google News," says Google blog.
Comment: But it still has a fundamental problem. Google clusters news stories from a range of sources, so if something appears with a dozen references and a link such as "all 415 related »" then you know it's a big story. However, at the time when it really was news, there might only have been one or two stories ... and it wouldn't have shown up on the Google News page. Some stories don't get enough traction to appear at all.
Google News is great if you want old news, but that's not much of a recommendation.
Update: Squash (Phil Sim) makes the same point -- and several more -- in Google News fatally flawed.
