Perhaps in response to suggestions that its Search functions have been degraded or been usurped by AI summaries that not everybody wants, Google will now let you select news sources to narrow things down.
The company said in a blog post this week that it's launching Preferred Sources in the US and India over the next few days, along with a plus icon to the right of Top Stories in searches. Clicking on that plus symbol allows you to add blogs or news outlets. There doesn't appear to be a limit on how many sources you can add.
"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.
Speaking of which, we'd be remiss if we didn't suggest adding CNET to your preferred Google search sources. We hear they do great work.
What it means for news sites and their readers
News organizations and other information sites have shifted before to cater to Google's search algorithm as well as those on other platforms including Facebook and Instagram. Publishers executed a pivot to video in the 2010s, and in recent years produced more bite-sized content suitable for sharing on platforms such as TikTok.
Here's how you get to select your news sources. Google
The addition of news preferences might be a double-edged sword, giving you more control over search results while further shutting out some legitimate news publishers as new echo chambers get built.
"It's almost like a tone-deaf move by Google in my point of view, because news organizations are already concerned about losing traffic to the AI overviews," said Alex Mahadevan, director of MediaWise at Poynter, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media literacy program. "Now they have to figure out how to get people to pick their source in the source preferences."
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