Google expands ‘Preferred Sources’ feature globally for news

Image credit: Abondance

Google launched its ‘Preferred Sources‘ feature globally Thursday, allowing users to customize news displayed in the ‘Top Stories‘ section of search results and offering new engagement opportunities for publishers.

The worldwide rollout enables users in all supported languages to select specific news sites, which will then be prioritized in their ‘Top Stories‘ feed, significantly enhancing personalization for news consumption.

The company reported that users who designate a site as a preferred source are twice as likely to click on content from that specific site.

More than 200,000 unique websites, encompassing everything from local blogs to major international news organizations, have already been chosen by users as preferred sources.

Google previously conducted testing for the ‘Preferred Sources‘ feature in the United States and India before its global expansion, according to the company.

The search giant also provides various tools and resources through its Help Center designed to assist publishers in encouraging users to add their sites as preferred sources, aiming to foster direct audience engagement.

Source: Abondance