Google is seemingly experimenting with a new feature that turns your search history into a personalised audio experience. Dubbed Daily Listen, the tool creates a five-minute podcast summarising news and topics based on users’ Search and Discover feed activity, which seems like a new stab in the back of news outlets. Other questions remain about how the feature handles user privacy and whether opting out will be straightforward if it moves beyond the experimental stage.
The feature is currently being tested with Android and iOS users in the US. According to a report from 9to5Google, Daily Listen uses artificial intelligence to analyse search data and interaction patterns, selecting news articles likely to interest the user. These stories are then condensed into short audio overviews, accompanied by a full-text transcript and playback controls.
Users can pause, rewind, mute, or skip between stories using an audio scrubber interface. A “Related stories” section allows further exploration of topics mentioned in the summaries. Additionally, listeners can provide feedback with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on individual stories, which may help refine future recommendations.
Testers can find the feature in the Google app, within the personalised widget carousel beneath the Search bar. Opting in to the experiment through Search Labs is required.
While Google hasn’t confirmed whether the feature will roll out broadly, there’s precedent for similar tools being tested through Search Labs before becoming widely available. For example, its AI Search Overviews were first introduced experimentally before a general launch last year.
