Google Search Now Lets You Choose Preferred News Sources in Top Stories
Google has introduced a new feature that allows users to personalize their Top Stories carousel by selecting preferred news sources—a move designed to give users more control over their news experience. This personalization tool is part of a Labs experiment and aims to address user demand for curated content from trusted publications. If you’ve ever wished to see more news from your favorite outlets—be it a sports blog, local news agency, or national publication—this update gives you the power to do just that. The preferred sources feature works by showing more content from selected sites whenever relevant news stories appear in search results.
How Preferred News Sources Work in Google Search
Google’s preferred sources tool is currently being tested in Search Labs, available in English for users in the United States and India. Once enabled, you’ll notice a new starred page icon at the top-right corner of the Top Stories carousel. Tapping on this allows you to mark specific sites—like trusted news outlets or niche blogs—as preferred. From that point onward, when a search is related to current events or breaking news, Google Search will display more articles from those selected publications—provided they’ve published fresh, relevant content.
This enhancement doesn’t remove algorithmically selected stories. Instead, it complements them by blending your preferences with Google's existing content curation, offering a mix of broader news coverage and sources you trust. If your chosen source has a new article that’s timely and relevant to your search, it’ll likely be featured more prominently in your results.
Why Personalizing Top Stories Matters to News Consumers
Customizing your Top Stories experience with preferred sources means gaining more control over what kind of content you see, especially in a digital landscape dominated by algorithms. Many users have expressed frustration over biased or repetitive content dominating their feeds. With this change, you get to surface perspectives and coverage styles you value—be it hyper-local journalism or international analysis.
Beyond convenience, this update is also part of Google’s broader effort to foster news literacy and transparency. Displaying a "From your sources" section beneath the main Top Stories carousel helps users identify which content comes from their hand-picked outlets. This added context can foster trust and reduce reliance on algorithmic curation alone, which has often been criticized for favoring engagement over accuracy.
What This Means for Publishers and Content Creators
For publishers, the preferred sources update is a valuable opportunity to strengthen relationships with their audiences. If a user selects your site as a preferred source, it increases your chances of appearing in their Top Stories feed—translating to more clicks, visibility, and reader loyalty. However, this also means that staying relevant and updating your site regularly becomes more crucial than ever.
Content creators should focus on publishing fresh, high-quality articles that align with trending topics and search queries. Technical SEO should not be overlooked either—structured data, mobile optimization, and page speed all contribute to your visibility within the Top Stories carousel. And since personalization is involved, user experience becomes even more important: readers are more likely to mark a source as preferred if the content is clear, helpful, and consistently reliable.
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