You're simply saying: give me more of this outlet's work.
In an era when algorithms quietly decide which journalism reaches which eyes, North Wales Live is asking its readers to make a deliberate choice — to tell Google, plainly, that local reporting matters to them. The gesture is small in effort but meaningful in implication: that the future of regional news may depend less on what journalists publish and more on whether readers actively signal their trust. By surfacing a largely overlooked Google feature, the publication is inviting its audience to participate in the curation of their own information diet, and in doing so, to push back gently against the homogenizing pull of algorithmic defaults.
- Regional journalism faces a quiet existential pressure — not from a single crisis, but from the slow erosion of visibility in feeds shaped by engagement metrics and national reach.
- North Wales Live is responding not with a campaign or a paywall, but with a four-step instruction: tell Google you trust us, and Google will trust us more on your behalf.
- The tension is real — local outlets compete for algorithmic attention against national publishers with far greater traffic, and most readers don't know they have the power to rebalance that equation.
- The feature itself is unobtrusive and reversible, allowing readers to build a portfolio of preferred sources without surrendering access to the broader news ecosystem.
- The publication has even prepared for those who get lost in the process, offering troubleshooting guidance and a contact email — a small but telling commitment to meeting readers where they are.
Google quietly offers its users the ability to designate which news outlets they trust — a feature most people scroll past without noticing. North Wales Live is asking its readers to stop and use it.
The process takes seconds. Search any news topic in Chrome or the Google app, find the Top Stories box, tap the icon to its right, type a publication's name, and select it. From that moment, Google's algorithm begins weighting that outlet's stories more heavily in your personal feed. It doesn't shut out other publishers — it simply tips the scales toward the sources you've chosen.
The appeal North Wales Live is making is direct: designate us as a preferred source, and you'll see more of the reporting that requires local knowledge and time to produce — the exclusives, the stories broken first, the coverage that national outlets won't prioritise. In a landscape where algorithmic defaults tend to favour scale and engagement over geography, this is one of the few levers a reader can actually pull.
Research suggests that most users who engage with the feature select four or more preferred sources, assembling a small portfolio of trusted outlets rather than relying on Google's choices alone. Preferred stories surface both within the Top Stories section and in a dedicated 'From your sources' panel, and preferences can be updated at any time.
North Wales Live is part of the Reach publishing group, and it's encouraging readers to consider adding sister publications — WalesOnline, the Liverpool Echo, the Manchester Evening News — alongside it. More preferred sources, the logic goes, means more chances for regional journalism to compete for attention it might otherwise never receive.
For those who can't locate the icon, the publication offers troubleshooting steps and a contact email. It's a modest gesture, but one that acknowledges something important: not everyone navigates digital interfaces with equal confidence, and a publication that wants to be chosen should be willing to help people do the choosing.
Google offers a feature that most people never notice: the ability to tell the search engine which news outlets matter to you. North Wales Live is asking readers to use it.
The mechanism is straightforward. Open Google in Chrome or the Google app, search for any topic in the news, and you'll see a "Top Stories" box appear at the top of your results. To the right of that box is an icon—easy to miss if you're not looking for it. Click it, type the name of a publication you trust, and select it from the dropdown. That's the whole transaction. Within seconds, Google's algorithm knows you prefer this source, and it begins to weight stories from that outlet more heavily in your feed.
North Wales Live, the regional news operation covering the Welsh north, is making a straightforward pitch: if you do this for us, you'll see more of what we publish. More exclusives. More stories we've broken first. More of the reporting that takes time and local knowledge to produce. The appeal is not complicated. The publication wants readers to actively choose it, to signal to Google that its journalism deserves prominence in their personal news diet.
What makes this worth understanding is what it reveals about how news reaches people now. Google doesn't simply show you the most important stories. It shows you the stories that match your stated preferences, weighted by engagement, freshness, and the invisible calculations of its ranking systems. By designating a preferred source, you're not blocking out other publishers—Google will still show you news from hundreds of outlets. You're simply saying: when you have a choice between two equally valid stories, give me the one from this outlet more often. Studies suggest that more than half of users who set preferred sources choose four or more, building a small portfolio of trusted outlets rather than relying on Google's defaults.
The feature works across Google's ecosystem. Stories from your preferred sources appear more frequently in the "Top Stories" section itself, and they also populate a dedicated "From your sources" section on the search results page. You can manage these preferences at any time, adding outlets you've come to trust or removing ones that no longer serve you. The system is designed to be flexible, responsive to changing interests and shifting confidence in particular newsrooms.
North Wales Live is part of Reach, a larger publishing group that includes outlets like WalesOnline, the Liverpool Echo, and the Manchester Evening News. The publication is encouraging readers not just to add it as a preferred source, but to consider adding its sister publications as well. The logic is simple: more preferred sources means more diverse coverage, more chances to catch stories you might otherwise miss, more opportunity for regional and local journalism to compete for attention in a landscape increasingly dominated by national outlets and algorithmic feeds.
For readers who can't locate the preferred sources icon—and there are always some—Google has built in troubleshooting steps. Make sure you're signed into your Google account; preferred sources are tied to individual accounts, not devices. Try searching for a topic with recent news coverage; the Top Stories box only appears for timely subjects. Update the Google app if you're on mobile. If none of that works, North Wales Live has left a contact email for readers who want help navigating the process. It's a small gesture, but it acknowledges that not everyone moves through digital interfaces with equal ease, and that the publication wants to meet people where they are.
Citações Notáveis
More preferred sources means more diverse coverage, more chances to catch stories you might otherwise miss— North Wales Live's pitch to readers
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Why does a news outlet need to ask readers to do this? Shouldn't good journalism just rise to the top on its own?
Google's algorithm doesn't know what's good—it knows what's popular and what matches your past behavior. A story can be meticulously reported and still get buried if it's not getting clicks. By letting readers signal their preferences directly, you're bypassing that popularity contest.
But doesn't this just create echo chambers? If I only see stories from outlets I've already chosen, won't I miss important news?
That's the thing—you won't. Google still shows you news from hundreds of publishers. You're just saying your preferred sources should appear more often. It's like having a favorite section of the newspaper, not refusing to read the rest.
Who benefits most from this feature?
Regional outlets like North Wales Live benefit enormously. They compete for attention against national papers and massive digital platforms. If readers actively choose them, Google treats them as more relevant. It's a way for local journalism to level the playing field.
What if someone sets preferred sources and then forgets about it?
They can change it anytime. The whole system is designed to be reversible. You're not locked in. If you stop trusting an outlet, you remove it. If you discover a new one, you add it. It's meant to evolve with your needs.
Does this actually change what news people see, or is it just psychological?
It genuinely changes the feed. More stories from your chosen outlets appear in Top Stories and in a dedicated section. Whether that's meaningful depends on whether you're actually reading those stories or just scrolling past them.