It seems like the wrong success metrics are used here if this isn't an experiment. If they used something like "more clicks on articles" this change could appear positive from their end since people now have to click the articles to actually see if they want to read it.
know an alternative news source? looking for one as a result.
Techmeme remains the best tech-focused news aggregator. Their sister sites Memeorandum (political news) and Mediagazer (media news) also deserve a spot in your bookmarks.
One of their best features, which Google has moved away from, is linking to multiple news sources for each story.
The previous design showed headlines and the first sentence or two of each article's lede. The current design just shows the headline. That's just broken, especially in the era of deceptive headlines.