Microsoft is today launching its personalized news reading experience, Microsoft Start. It can be accessed as a mobile app or website, and integrates with other Microsoft products like Windows 10 and 11 as well. Microsoft claims that the feed will be a combination of content from news publishers but tailored to the users' individual interests. This customization system could allow Microsoft to compete with news experiences offered by Apple and Google as well as third-party apps such as Flipboard or SmartNews.
Microsoft claims the product is built on Microsoft's legacy of online and mobile consumer services such as MSN and Microsoft News. It will not replace MSN. This service will still be available, even though it is being replaced by an in-house competitor.
Microsoft Start can be used by consumers on Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Safari. Or they can download the Microsoft Start app for iOS or Android.
It will also power the News and Interests experience in Windows 10 and the Widgets experience in Windows 11. It will also be available in Microsoft Edge via the New Tab page.
The Microsoft Start website looks very similar to any other online portal. It offers news from many publishers and widgets such as weather, stock, traffic, and scores. Clicking to read an article will take you to a syndicated version on Microsofts domain. This includes the Microsoft Start top navigation bars at the top and the emoji reactions buttons below the headline.
You can also respond to stories using emojis from the homepage.
This emoji set looks similar to the one offered by Facebook today, but Microsoft has replaced Facebook's controversial laughing face with a thinking facial. (It is worth noting, however, that the Facebook laughing face has come to be criticized for being used openly to ridicule posts and mock people on stories about tragic events like Covid deaths.
Microsoft also made a change to its emoji: After you respond to a story using an emoji you will only see your emoji and not the top three or total reaction count.
However, online portals are often static aggregators for news content. Microsoft Starts feed adjusts to the users' interests in many different ways.
To manually add or remove interests, users can click the Personalize button. This will take them to a page that allows them to select from a variety of high-level categories such as news, entertainment and sports, money, finance and travel. You can also search for interests and categories that are more specific or niche. Flipboard recently updated its main page, the For You feed. This allows users to make similar choices.
Users can then browse their Microsoft Start feed and click a button that allows them to thumbs up/down an article. This will allow the feed to be adjusted to their likings. Microsoft says that the feed will become more refined as users engage with it over time. This customization will use A.I. The company also notes that machine learning and human moderation will be used in this customization.
Like other online portals the feed is supported by advertising. Scroll down to see that every row will contain one ad unit. The URL is marked with a green Ad badge. These ads appear mostly to be product ads at first, which makes them different from news content. Microsoft is not closing down MSN, but is integrating the news service into other products. This launch will allow it to expand its advertising opportunities.
The iOS privacy label states that the User ID is the user ID and data used to track users on other websites and apps. Google News, however, does not have a tracking section. Microsoft Start and Google News both collect data about you such as your location, identifiers and search history. They also store contact information and usage data. However, the website links only to Microsoft's privacy policies.
Today is the start of rollout for the website, app, as well as integrations. If you have trouble finding the app, you can scan the QR code with your smartphone. The app was currently available on iOS, but the link took us to Microsoft News for Android. You may have different mileage.
