Google News has dropped the "Text Version" feature sometime over the past week or so. A Google News Help thread has some complaints dating back to October 22nd.
Personally, I don't think I ever used the text option for Google News, but some have. I did spot a screen shot with the option on Flickr, over here, just look on the left hand column. Now, if you go to Google News, you won't see the "Text Version" link anymore.
Why did Google drop it? Fred from the Google News team said in the Google News Help thread:
We're always experimenting with ways to make Google News more useful. Occasionally, this also means we have to re-evaluate our efforts to be sure we focus on features that make the most sense for our users.We decided to phase out Text view, in part, because we believe Headline view provides much of the same functionality. You can select Headline view and see all of the article links that Google News has to offer. If you're on a slow connection, Headline view should be faster than the default Google News homepage.
We apologize for any frustration this might cause. We remain committed to helping all of our readers discover as much news content as possible, while helping publishers find and reach new audiences online.
Farewell text version of Google News!
Forum discussion at Google News Help.
