How eGov Review personalizes
eGov Review chooses some of the messages on its pages with Zygnet Personalize, a Drupal module. Some messages follow the page or the link a reader arrived by and need no consent; others follow what a reader lets the site remember, on the reader's own device only.
Each case below gives a link or steps, what to look for, and the text of the "Why this?" panel next to the message. Every link opens a real page of the site. Nothing here sets up a reader's history, follows or answers in advance.
Start again
- To erase what the site remembered, open Your reading settings and choose "Forget everything". Consent answers stay as they are.
- To change a consent answer, open Cookie Settings at the foot of any page.
- To see the site as a first-time reader, open it in a private window.
Without cookies or consent
These cases follow only the page, the link and the date. They show after "Decline", after "Accept" and before any answer. Every reader gets the same message for the same link on the same day, unless the message is being tested in versions. One case also uses consent: with "Remember topics I follow" accepted, a campaign bar stays for the rest of the visit (E1).
A campaign bar from the link (E1)
A link from an eGov Review campaign shows a bar under the header that names the campaign's topic.
Open the front page from a Cybersecurity campaign link
Look for: "Cybersecurity coverage on eGov Review." with "Browse Cybersecurity", labelled "From eGov Review". A reload shows the same bar. Without "Remember topics I follow", a story opened from that page shows no bar, because the bar follows the link. With "Remember topics I follow" accepted, the bar shows for the rest of the visit. The same campaign link with the second wording shows the longer text on every reload.
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown on links from an eGov Review campaign."
A topic promotion after the "Also in" list (E2)
Every story outside News shows one row from eGov Review after its "Also in" list: a promotion of the story's topic, or of one archive story of that topic chosen by an editor.
Open the Cybersecurity story on Albanian government websites
Look for: about half way down the story, in the right margin on wide screens, a row labelled "From eGov Review" that promotes the Cybersecurity topic page or the story "How Do Governments Deal with Mobile Security?". Until testing starts, only the first of these shows. A News story, such as the Digital ID story in E3, shows no row.
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown on stories about Cybersecurity."
While the two versions are being tested, the panel adds: "This message is being tested in versions."
The next step by tag (E3)
A story carrying one of the thirteen tags with 20 or more stories ends with a link to that tag's page. It is a navigation line, not a promotion, so it carries no label.
Open the story on Pakistan's digital ID card
Look for: "More on Digital ID →" after the share links at the end of the story.
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown on stories tagged Digital ID."
The newsroom on press releases and contract stories (E4)
A press release, or a story tagged Contract, Cloud Services, Digital Procurement or e-Government Procurement, shows the newsroom's row in place of the topic promotion.
Open a press release from the Telangana government
Look for: "Won a public-sector contract?" with "Contact the newsroom", labelled "From eGov Review".
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown on press releases and stories about public contracts."
Award and summit stories (E5)
A story about an award or a summit ends with one of two messages from the newsroom: an invitation to send news, or how eGov Review chooses stories. A reader who accepted "Remember topics I follow" and then sent the contact form no longer sees it.
Open the story on Bahrain's e-government excellence award
Look for: at the end of the story, "Is your agency's work worth reporting?" with "Tell the newsroom →", or "How eGov Review chooses stories →", labelled "From eGov Review". Until testing starts, only the first of these shows.
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown on stories about awards and summits."
While the two versions are being tested, the panel adds: "This message is being tested in versions."
The country next step (E6)
A story tagged USA, India, Australia, UK or Canada, and with none of the tags of E3, ends with a link to that country's page.
Open the story on India's trade deficit
Look for: "More from India →" at the end of the story, with no label.
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown on stories tagged India."
A welcome for readers from social media and search (E7)
A reader who arrives from social media or a search engine sees one line under the byline. A link cannot set where a reader came from, so this link marks itself as shared on social media; an arrival from LinkedIn or a search engine shows the same line.
Open the story on government technology trends as a shared link
Look for: "New to eGov Review? It reports on IT in government." and "More Policy & Governance coverage →" under the byline. The same story opened without the link's parameters shows no line.
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown to readers who arrive from social media or a search engine."
The follow-topics notice (E8)
Until the end of 2026, the front page, the News page and News stories show a box in the bottom corner once a third of the page is read: a notice that readers can follow topics. A campaign bar, when a link brings one, takes its place.
Look for: "New: follow the topics you care about and see their stories on your front page." in a box at the bottom corner, after scrolling a third of the way down. The close button hides it; it stays closed only for a reader who accepted "Remember topics I follow".
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown on the front page, the News page and News stories until the end of 2026."
What brings a reader to eGov Review (E11)
The front page asks "What brings you to eGov Review?" with four answers and "None of these". An answer shows that role's topic pages under the question at once. With "Remember topics I follow" accepted, the answer also changes the links at the end of later stories; without it, the answer lasts for the page.
Open the front page and answer the question
Look for: after an answer, the role's links under the question.
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown because of the answer to "What brings you to eGov Review?"."
A reader who answered nothing, but whose reading points to one of the four answers, sees the same links with a different reason: "Shown because of the stories read on this device."
The privacy explainer (E12)
Stories tagged Data Privacy or PII end with a short note on what the reading features keep, and a link to Your reading settings.
Open the story on tracking cookies on G20 government websites
Look for: "Reading about online privacy? eGov Review's reading features keep what they remember on this device only." with "See your reading settings", labelled "From eGov Review".
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown on stories tagged Data Privacy or PII."
A weekend long read (E13)
On Saturdays and Sundays, India time, a story with no other message at its end promotes one long read chosen by an editor. The same story on a weekday shows nothing there.
Open the story on energy trends in the fourth industrial revolution
Look for: on a Saturday or a Sunday, "A long read for the weekend" and the story "Ecosystem Platforms For Efficient Public Private Partnerships", labelled "From eGov Review".
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown on Saturdays and Sundays."
A promotion inside a topic listing (E14)
Page 1 of a topic's listing shows one row from eGov Review after the sixth story: a related tag's page, or one story promoted as a single title link.
Open the Cybersecurity topic page
Look for: after the sixth story, "More on Cyberattacks →" or the story "PISCES Trains Entry-Level Cyber Analysts to Protect Small Municipalities", labelled "From eGov Review". Until testing starts, only the first of these shows. The News listing shows no row.
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown on the Cybersecurity page."
While the two versions are being tested, the panel adds: "This message is being tested in versions."
After choosing what the site remembers
These cases follow what a reader lets the site remember: the topics followed and the stories read. Turn them on in Cookie Settings, and off again at any time.
- Open Cookie Settings at the foot of any page. Turn on "Remember topics I follow" and "Suggest stories from what I read". Save.
- Read each story for at least ten seconds: a story counts as read once it has been on screen that long.
The engagement ask (E9)
After three stories, the end of a story asks the reader to follow its topic. It shows at most once a day. Once testing starts, one consenting reader in ten does not see it, so that the results can be compared.
Steps: read the story on a farmers.gov contract, the story on New Orleans city websites and the story on Pakistan's digital ID card, then open one more story.
Look for: at the end of the story, "Enjoying our coverage?" with the story's topic, a Follow button, an RSS feed link and "No thanks", labelled "From eGov Review". "No thanks" on two later stories stops the ask.
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown after three stories read on this device in 7 days."
Reader lists on the front page (E10)
The front page carries Continue reading, Picked for you and Your topics, and each topic page offers Follow. Before consent, Picked for you shows only an invitation.
Steps: read the story on Albanian government websites, the story on South African government websites and half of the story on mobile security, then open the front page. Then follow Cybersecurity on its topic page.
Look for: Continue reading offers the half-read story; Picked for you suggests Cybersecurity stories; after Follow, Your topics appears. Your reading settings lists each remembered item and the day it is forgotten.
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Suggested because you have been reading about Cybersecurity. Picked on this device, not on our servers."
A reminder of an unsent message (E15)
A reader who accepted "Remember topics I follow", started the contact form and left without sending it sees a reminder at the end of stories, at most three times in fourteen days, until the form is sent.
Steps: open the contact form, type a name, leave without sending, then open the story on energy trends.
Look for: "A message to the newsroom was started but not sent." with "Return to the contact form →", labelled "From eGov Review".
The "Why this?" panel reads: "Shown because a message to the newsroom was started and not sent."
Persona trails
Three readers of eGov Review, each as a short trail of links. Follow a trail in a private window, with consent declined; each step shows what it says.
A state CIO scanning trends
- Open the story on government technology trends from a shared post: the welcome line under the byline (E7).
- Open the front page from a Policy & Governance campaign link: the Policy & Governance bar (E1).
- Open the Policy & Governance topic page: a promotion after the sixth story (E14).
A public-sector sales lead following contracts
- Open a press release from the Telangana government: the newsroom row (E4).
- Open the press releases page: the newsroom row in the listing (E4).
- Open the Cybersecurity topic page from a campaign link: the Cybersecurity bar (E1).
A citizen following one story
- Open the story on Pakistan's digital ID card: "More on Digital ID →" at its end (E3).
- Open the story on tracking cookies: the privacy explainer (E12), with a link to Your reading settings.
Privacy controls
- Global Privacy Control: with it turned on in the browser (Firefox, Brave, or an extension), reload the front page. Picked for you says that suggestions from reading are off; Follow still works.
- Withdrawal: with both features on and the lists showing, open Cookie Settings and turn "Suggest stories from what I read" off. The lists empty at once, in every open tab.
- No request reveals a decision: open the browser's network panel, then any story with a promotion. No request names a promotion, a version or a topic; only an anonymous count leaves when the page is hidden.
Results so far
eGov Review counts how often each of its own messages is shown and clicked, and may test a message in two versions. For a test, the main result is the share of readers who click each version, measured in Google Analytics for readers who accept analytics. The site's own counts are the second readout: how often each version was shown, seen and clicked, for every reader, with no identifier.
The results are kept for editors and are not published on this page. Directional, not a verdict: a figure shows how the versions compare so far, not a winner.
What the site never does
- It never sets a reader's history, follows or answers in advance: every message on these pages follows the reader's own visit.
- It never shows a message from an outside advertiser: every promotion is eGov Review's own.
- It never sends what it remembers about a reader, the stories read and the topics followed, to its servers: that stays on the reader's device until the reader erases it or it expires.
- It never names a reader's role without saying why: the front page asks "What brings you to eGov Review?", and links chosen from the stories read on this device say so in their "Why this?" panel.
Built with
The messages on eGov Review are chosen by Zygnet Personalize, a module for Drupal.
Start again
- To erase what the site remembered, open Your reading settings and choose "Forget everything". Consent answers stay as they are.
- To change a consent answer, open Cookie Settings at the foot of any page.
- To see the site as a first-time reader, open it in a private window.
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