Google Launches Keyword, One Official Blog to Rule Them All

Keyword launched by Google as aggregator for many (but not all) of its blogs

By Kyle Wiggers September 30, 2016

You’re likely aware that Google’s products extend far beyond web searches — the Mountain View, California-based company counts Android, Chrome, YouTube, Street View, and more among its many corporate tendrils. But what you might not know is that almost all of the search giant’s subsidiaries have their own blog, and that those blogs have their own news, updates, and special events sections. Problem is, keeping up with all those streams isn’t easy — short of an RSS reader or mailing list, there isn’t a simple way to keep abreast of the goings-on at Google’s dozens of divisions. But the company intends to change that with Keyword, a new unified, single feed that collates all of Google’s blog content on one convenient page.

“Google first began blogging back in 2004 — when mobile phones looked like this and before anyone had dreamed up Chrome, Android, or YouTube,” Google said. “Since then the company has changed a lot, and we’ve published thousands of posts across a large number of blogs. We wanted to make it easier for you to find Google’s official word on any given topic.”

Google said the overriding mission of Keyword, which officially launched on Thursday, is to “provide a central, official source of news about who we are, what we do, and what we value.” So far, that’s been mostly in the form of aggregation of the company’s 19 most popular blogs. And it’s manifested in filtering and search tools. A Product News filter lets you follow new posts by any of the search giant’s flagship software, services, and hardware (i.e., Android, Maps, Translate, and YouTube, and Topics), and a Topics tool setting allows you to browse by broader category like Arts & Culture, Sports, Travel, and Education. It’s all nifty, thoughtful, and incredibly slick.

Keyword’s a little rough around the edges, though. It trolls only a fraction of Google’s blogs — the company has 54 in English alone (Google said it’ll retain blogs not aggregated by Keyword for “more specific audiences”). And it’s limited in scope to the company’s U.S. properties — Google said it plans to expand to include “other languages, countries, and more” over time.

But Google said Keyword is designed to grow. “[It’ll] change as we do, so as we introduce new products and technologies, they can find a home here,” Google said. “It will guide you to the big news of the week while leaving room for smaller, fun updates from that afternoon. And everything comes with bigger, more beautiful images, videos, and slideshows.”

Keyward Editor-in-Chief Rose Behar notes that the very first post on Google’s first blog, the Official Google Blog, was published 12 years ago — “before Chrome, before Android, before YouTube.” It doesn’t quite predate Google’s acquisition of Blogger, the modular blogging platform on which the company hosts its many forums, but comes close — the search giant bought Blogger in 2003.

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