The U.S. verson of Google News has begun allowing people and groups involved in news stories to post their comments about the story, said media reports Thursday.

People or groups that are cited in news stories can submit comments to the Google News team, which will then display those comments — unedited — alongside the Google News links to those stories.

The process is not for everyone, and in fact requires a lengthy verification process of sending off your comment and credentials to a special Google e-mail address, and later verifying your identity via domain name and an e-mail follow-up from Google staff, the reports added.

Google will work with each author individually to confirm their identity by contacting the organization affiliated with the author, contacting local officials or collaborating with journalists, according to the company.

If you pass the test, your comment will show up alongside the article, the reports added.

The new system will at first be deployed only within the U.S., but Google is open to expanding it to other regions if the trial goes well.

The move was "to enhance the news experience for readers," Google software engineers Dan Meredith and Andy Golding stated in a blog post.
Once the new system is in place, Google News will feature something it has never had before: original content. There's a certain amount of "originality" in aggregating news sources from around the world and organizing them into easy-to-click topics.

As a result, Google's move may increase the competition in the online news industry, the reports suggested.