Google Launches Preferred Sources Feature in US, India Search

Google has officially launched its 'Preferred Sources' feature for Search users in the US and India, allowing individuals to customize their news feed by selecting favorite news outlets that will appear more frequently in the Top Stories section. Users can add as many preferred sources as they like by clicking an icon next to Top Stories on a search results page and refreshing to see updated content, which will include a star icon to indicate favored sources and may also appear in a dedicated 'From your sources' carousel. This feature, which was tested earlier through Google Labs, retains previous user selections automatically and continues to show stories from other sites to maintain diversity. Publishers can encourage their audiences to add them as preferred sources via dedicated Google tools, fostering closer engagement with readers. The rollout aims to give users more control over their news consumption while preserving the algorithmic curation of content to ensure relevance and freshness. Feedback from initial testing showed that over half of users preferred selecting four or more sources, emphasizing the demand for personalized yet diverse news experiences.