Editors Picks Comes To Google News, Users Want To Remove It

Google announced yet another feature added to the Google News side bar, this is called editors picks.

It is a bit un-searchy to me being that editors (not from Google) are hand picking stories to show there. Of course, what users see are personalized based on their preferences in Google News. The only issue is that you can't remove the box, even if you wanted to.

Here is a picture:

Google announced it also in the Google News Help forums but the response has been only negative. Users simply want to remove it. One said:

Please allow Editor's Picks to be disabled as a "feature". I already subscribe to several news organizations and do not need Google to pick for me. This is not good, BTW. It is a form of reverse censorship in that it occupies space that would otherwise be filled with news. I also do not like "most popular" as a category as I believe sheep are interested in that.

Overall, please stop handling me. I am an adult and capable of making my own decisions.

I am not sure if Google will allow users to remove it or not, but for publishers, if you want to be included, you should check out the help document.

To participate in Editors' Picks as a publisher, you will need to create and submit a custom RSS feed. There are guidelines for supplying and managing the feed, as well as technical specifications.

If upon reviewing the RSS feed we find that it does not meet our guidelines, we may disable it in our system. Additionally, pending our own quality measures and user feedback, we may re-review and disable your RSS feed at any time.

Forum discussion at Google News Help.