Search engine giant Google has introduced a new badge system for Google News users, allowing them to collect badges related to their topics of interest and share them with others.

According to a post on the Official Google Blog, users will be able to earn badges as they continue to read articles about their favourite topics. The more they read, the higher level of badge they will receive. This will then enable others to see your level of expertise in (or rather time spent looking into) a particular area.

Users will first start with Bronze and will rise through Silver, Gold, Platinum and eventually reach Ultimate. The News Badge system is offering more than 500 badges for every kind of news topic imaginable like Harry Potter, US Elections and Stock Market.

“Your badges are private by default, but if you want, you can share your badges with your friends. Tell them about your news interests, display your expertise, start a conversation or just plain brag about how well-read you are,” the company said.

Users will have to visit Google News with a Google account signed-in with its web history enabled. Upon visiting Google News, users are advised to visit the Help Center for instructions on how to go about using the new badge system.