Your favorite sources first: Google will let you personalize news in the Google News section!

Google is introducing a new experimental feature called Preferred sources, which will allow users to customize the Top Stories section in search results, which currently appears as the Google News section for the Czech language. The goal is to increase the relevance of news based on which websites you like or visit regularly.

Normally, Google displays Top Stories algorithmically, regardless of your preferences; however, with this new feature, you can increase the chance that your favorite blog or local newspaper will appear among the main news stories. Of course, provided that it publishes current content.

For selected websites, a star icon will appear next to their name, and a new list “From your sources” may appear below the main news selection.

Personalization not just for Google News

In addition to the new and hopefully upcoming tested feature, Google also reminds users of the existing personalization of Google Search, which updates relevant sections according to your search history. The feature can be turned off at any time by clicking “Try without personalization” at the very bottom of the results page.

However, the tested feature is currently only available in English, either in the USA or India. It is also part of the Search Labs experiments, which you can sign up for through the Google app or directly in the search engine; however, due to localization, such a decision makes little sense, at least in this case.

It also remains to be seen whether the new feature will only apply to the English version of Top Stories or if it will also affect the aforementioned news section Google News. However, since both functionalities work on a very similar principle, it is possible that we will see it in that form as well — if not, we will have to make do only with cases where we use the English language for googling.

Which websites would you add to your preferred sources?

Source: 9to5Google, Google Blog