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Google News junkies rejoice -- your daily web browsing will now earn you more than just knowledge.

“Google is now rewarding avid newsreaders by giving out badges. The company is offering a variety of 500 different emblems, each one for a particular topic. For each Google news article you read, you’ll get a star added to the badge. There are five different levels of the star, starting with bronze, and going up to the coveted ultimate blue star.” (KRON)

And the new starry system is looking to tailor to everyone’s interests. One Google News engineer writes in the official blog...

“We have more than 500 badges available, so no matter what kind of news you’re into, there’s a badge out there for you.”

So how do you take your star to the next level? eWeek says -- by reading more about your interests, of course.

“Badges will ‘level up’ faster if a user reads a few relevant articles every day, rather than trying to read everything at once. Users who read a few articles a day about favorite topics will earn their first badge in about a week. Users can also click on a badge to see articles that will help the badge reach its next level.”

Badges are private by default. But, readers can easily share their interests with friends--by clicking the +1 button. That means -- badges will also be incorporated into Google+.   

If you’re still feeling shy, don’t worry -- the badges won’t say specific articles you’ve read.

This type of rewards system is called “gamification” -- applying game mechanics to non-game environments. And analysts say -- it’s only going to get bigger. Gartner predicts that...

"...by 2015, more than [half] of organizations that manage innovation processes will gamify those processes.”

Transcript by Newsy.