Tired of Google's News feed? This new feature puts you in charge

New Delhi: Google has introduced a new “Preferred Sources” feature in its Search platform, now rolling out to users in the India and U.S. The update gives people more control over the news they see by allowing them to choose their favourite news sites and blogs to appear more often in the Top Stories section of Google Search results.

Here’s how it works: when searching for a news topic, users can tap a star icon next to the Top Stories header, pick from a list of news outlets or blogs, and add them to their preferred sources. After refreshing the page, Top Stories will feature more articles from those choices. A new “From your sources” section may also appear below Top Stories, showcasing stories only from your selected favourites.

You can add as many sources as you want and edit the list anytime. Articles from other sites will still appear, ensuring a diversity of viewpoints, but Preferred Sources puts extra emphasis on trusted or favourite outlets, whether that’s a local newspaper or a niche blog.

The feature was first tested in Google’s Search Labs, where more than half of early users picked four or more sources. Now that it’s going mainstream, it also creates a fresh opportunity for publishers — encouraging their readers to mark them as a go-to source in Google Search.

This rollout is part of Google’s ongoing push to make Search results more personalised, relevant, and clutter-free, while also boosting the visibility of smaller and regional publishers in the competitive digital news space.

The expansion is currently underway and will soon be available to all English-language users in the U.S. and India. To try it, just search for a news topic and click the star icon next to Top Stories to start building your preferred list.