On Google News, the average reader of political news has read 20 articles about politics in the last six months.

As the Official Google Blog reported, starting today, in the U.S. edition of Google News, readers can earn Google News badges reading about their favorite topics. The more they read, the higher level badge they will receive, starting with Bronze, then moving up the ladder to Silver, Gold, Platinum and finally, Ultimate.

Google made available more than 500 badges. The earned badges are private by default, but if reader wants, he/she can share badges with friends.

Google says once they see how badges are used and shared, they will take this feature to the next level.

To improve Google News, Google separated Sci/Tech section into two distinct sections, as requested by its readers. They are now separated for all English editions, with more languages coming soon.