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Microsoft launches US news aggregator

Computer giant Microsoft today launched the US version of Newsbot, its trial news aggregator service.

Newsbot uses a database of around 4,800 news sources to feed the latest news headlines onto one web page. News is localised by country, but also presents personalised news based on the reading preferences of the user.

MSN UK search manager Robin Kellett told dotJournalism that Microsoft is investing heavily in search technology, and Newsbot is part of that investment.

"Beta versions will end at some point and it is possible that advertising may be introduced," he said.

"But at the moment, we're concerned with developing the Newsbot experience for users. We're investing in search technology and this is part of that investment."

Beta versions have been running since the start of the year in several countries including the UK, Malaysia and India.

The US version uses the same core technology as the other trials, but is more heavily weighted towards MSNBC, the online news partnership between Microsoft and the broadcaster NBC.

More news from dotJournalism:
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See also:
Newsbot UK: http://uk.newsbot.msn.com
Newsbot US: http://newsbot.msnbc.msn.com

Tags (click tag to find related articles; click icon for feed):
india | microsoft | nbc | united kingdom | united states | business partnership | malaysia | msn uk | search technology | online news partnership | robin kellett |

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