The Tech-Media Hybrid
Google's News Ambition
Will be published approx. on 23. December 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-231-20727-0 (ISBN)
Description
Google is typically thought of as a tech giant and the world's largest search engine, but it was also among the first tech companies to invest in news. After 9/11, the company recognized the economic and social value of up-to-the-minute information and began to incorporate news into its business. Google News-built on automation, algorithms, aggregation, and the unbundling and rebundling of news-and Google's other news-related initiatives went on to play a major role in shaping the information ecosystem of the twenty-first century.
In The Tech-Media Hybrid, Qun Wang examines Google's engagement with news across more than two decades, tracing the company's complicated relationship with the news industry. She shows how Google developed a push-and-pull relationship with the media sector, boosting its visibility while also competing against it and establishing new norms. What the company calls the "Google way" of experiencing news has exerted a profound influence on traditional media; Google's news ambitions, in turn, have been shaped by the global news industry's actions and reactions at every step. Shedding new light on the vast transformations of the past quarter century, this multimethod interdisciplinary book also offers insight into how the news environment might evolve in the era of AI.
In The Tech-Media Hybrid, Qun Wang examines Google's engagement with news across more than two decades, tracing the company's complicated relationship with the news industry. She shows how Google developed a push-and-pull relationship with the media sector, boosting its visibility while also competing against it and establishing new norms. What the company calls the "Google way" of experiencing news has exerted a profound influence on traditional media; Google's news ambitions, in turn, have been shaped by the global news industry's actions and reactions at every step. Shedding new light on the vast transformations of the past quarter century, this multimethod interdisciplinary book also offers insight into how the news environment might evolve in the era of AI.
Reviews / Votes
You have surely used Google News, but do you know where the news aggregator came from and how it has evolved? You will after you read this brilliant multimethod account of two decades of Google's technology-inspired attraction to news and its simultaneous struggles with journalism. -- Susan Keith, professor and associate dean, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University This important book takes us from the early days of Google to the new age of generative AI, documenting how Google's ever-changing approach to news is driven by its quest for institutional power. A valuable read showing how our tech platforms, media, and democracy are intertwined. -- Mor Naaman, associate dean for faculty affairs and the Don and Mibs Follett Professor of Information Science, Cornell Tech Google News has long been one of the most significant technological intermediaries between news producers and news consumers. Qun Wang provides a much-needed in-depth analysis that covers everything from history to legal issues to strategy and takes us from the service's origins all the way to the current AI age. This is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the continued blurring of the boundary separating media and technology. -- Philip M. Napoli, James R. Shepley Professor of Public Policy and director of the DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy, Duke UniversityMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
12 black-and-white images
Dimensions
Height: 139 mm
Width: 216 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
384 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-231-20727-0 (9780231207270)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
12/2025
Columbia University Press
€33.99
Available for download
Person
Qun Wang, a former TV anchor, journalist, and news director, is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University.