Facing criticism for degraded search results and angst from people who want to avoid AI Overviews, Google has announced a new search feature that lets you choose the sites you want to see in your news and search results.
Google said in a recent blog post that it's launching Preferred Sources in the US and India this month. The new feature can be accessed through a plus icon to the right of Top Stories panels or a direct link to your preferences.
"Once you select your sources, they will appear more frequently in Top Stories or in a dedicated 'From your sources' section on the search results page. You'll still see content from other sites, and can manage your selections at any time," Google said.
The new feature is the result of a Labs experiment. Google says that in that version, half of its users added four or more sources. Google offered advice to website publishers and owners on how to direct readers to add their site.
How you can select your own preferred sources on Google Search
It's simple to add preferred sources for Google Search. You can click the star icon to the right of any "Top Stories" panel in Google Search, which will spawn a pop-up window to add sources, or you can visit the settings page directly at https://www.google.com/preference/source.
Google has added a preferred sources link next to Top Stories for users in the US and India. Screenshot by Peter Butler/CNET
Once you see the search box that says "Search by name or website," type the name or URL of a site you definitely want to include in your search results -- such as CNET or its sibling tech sites ZDNET, Mashable, PCMag and Lifehacker -- then select the checkbox next to each site you want to add.
To view and manage your preferred sources, click on the "Your sources" link at the bottom of the preferences page. To remove any of your preferred sources, simply uncheck the checkbox for any sites you want to delete.
It's easy to add and remove preferred sources. Screenshot by Peter Butler/CNET
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