You can now tell Google which outlets you actually want to see
In an age when algorithms have quietly assumed the role of editorial gatekeepers, Google is offering readers a modest but meaningful act of reclamation: the ability to choose, by name, which voices they wish to hear. The Preferred Sources feature, now live in the United States and India, allows users to star trusted news outlets and see their journalism elevated in search results. For local publishers long overshadowed by national feeds, it is a rare invitation back into the daily conversation. The gesture raises an old question anew — whether the freedom to choose what we read is a path toward understanding, or simply a more comfortable way of staying where we already are.
- Readers frustrated by opaque algorithmic curation now have a direct mechanism to tell Google which news outlets they actually trust, marking them with a star to reshape their Top Stories feed.
- Local and regional publishers like Newsquest face an existential tension — their hyperlocal coverage of courts, traffic, and community life is precisely what national algorithms tend to bury, making this feature a potential lifeline.
- The rollout is uneven, with availability currently limited to the US and India, leaving readers in other markets waiting while the feature's real-world impact remains untested at scale.
- A companion tool, Spotlighting Subscriptions, extends the same logic to paid journalism, surfacing content from outlets users already subscribe to and signalling a broader strategic pivot by Google toward reader-declared preference over passive recommendation.
- The feature lands in contested territory — personalization promises relevance but risks reinforcing information bubbles, and whether users will curate deliberately or simply entrench existing habits remains the open and uncomfortable question.
Google has introduced a new feature called Preferred Sources, giving users the ability to actively shape which news outlets appear in their search results rather than leaving that judgment entirely to the algorithm. Available now in the United States and India, the tool lets readers mark trusted outlets with a star directly from the Top Stories section of a search page, after which those sources are given greater prominence and gathered into a dedicated "from your sources" section below the main carousel.
The mechanics are simple by design. Search for any trending topic, tap the star icon near the Top Stories header, select the outlets you trust — national broadcasters, local papers, specialist publications — and refresh. Preferences can be adjusted at any time through search settings, and there is no apparent limit on how many sources a user can add.
For regional publishers, the stakes feel particularly high. Chains like Newsquest have begun actively encouraging their readers to add local titles as Preferred Sources, recognising that the feature could restore visibility for the granular, community-level journalism — road closures, local court proceedings, neighbourhood business news — that national algorithms rarely surface. It is coverage that defines a place for the people who live there, and it has long struggled to compete for algorithmic attention.
Google is pairing Preferred Sources with a second initiative, Spotlighting Subscriptions, which highlights content from news services a user already pays for, making it easier to access journalism they have financially committed to. Together, the two features suggest a deliberate reorientation: less algorithmic presumption, more reader agency.
Yet the feature carries an inherent tension. The same personalisation that promises to surface trusted, relevant journalism also risks narrowing the information landscape, reinforcing the outlets a reader already favours while leaving unfamiliar perspectives further out of reach. Whether Preferred Sources functions as an act of editorial empowerment or a more elegant form of self-enclosure will depend, in the end, on the intentions of the people using it.
Google has given its search engine a new lever for readers who are tired of algorithmic news feeds deciding what matters. The company's Preferred Sources feature, already live in the United States and India, lets you tell Google which news outlets you actually want to see when you search for breaking stories. Instead of trusting the algorithm alone, you can now mark your favorite sources with a star, and Google will bump those outlets higher in the Top Stories section of your results.
The mechanics are straightforward. When you search for a trending topic on Google, a star icon appears next to the Top Stories header. Click it, and you're presented with a list of news organizations to choose from—the BBC, Sky News, your local paper, whoever you trust. Select the ones you want, and after you refresh, Google reorganizes your results. Stories from your chosen sources now appear more prominently in the Top Stories carousel, and a new section called "from your sources" materializes below it, dedicated entirely to outlets you've selected. You can add as many sources as you like and change your preferences anytime through your search settings.
For local news publishers, particularly regional chains like Newsquest, the feature represents a direct line to readers who want hyperlocal coverage. When someone sets a Newsquest title as a Preferred Source, they're essentially asking Google to prioritize stories about their community—breaking news, yes, but also the granular details that matter to people living in a place. Traffic incidents and train cancellations. Court cases and crime reports. What's opening in the neighborhood, what concerts are coming, what local businesses are expanding. It's the kind of coverage that national outlets rarely touch, the information that makes a place feel knowable.
Google is not stopping with Preferred Sources. The company is simultaneously rolling out a companion feature called Spotlighting Subscriptions, which works on a similar principle but for paid news subscriptions. If you subscribe to a newspaper or news service, Spotlighting Subscriptions will highlight links to that content within your search results, giving you easier access to the journalism you're already paying for. Together, these tools represent a shift in how Google thinks about news discovery—less about what the algorithm thinks you should read, more about what you've explicitly chosen to trust.
The feature has already begun its global rollout, but availability varies by region. For readers in markets where it's active, the question becomes whether personalization actually solves the problem it claims to address. You can now see more of what you want, but you're also potentially narrowing your information diet, seeing only the sources you've already decided to favor. Whether that's a feature or a flaw depends largely on how deliberately you use it.
Notable Quotes
When Newsquest titles are set up as Preferred Sources, readers can expect to stay up to date with the latest breaking news in their area and receive in-depth analysis of everything from court and crime to sport and travel.— Google's promotional material for the feature
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
So this is Google letting you override its own ranking system?
Exactly. Instead of trusting the algorithm to decide which news sources matter most, you're saying, "No, show me these outlets first." It's a small act of control.
Why would Google do this? It seems to undermine what Google does best—ranking things by relevance.
Because news publishers have been pushing back for years. They want direct relationships with readers, not to be at the mercy of an algorithm. This gives Google a way to keep publishers happy while still controlling the platform.
And the local news angle—is that the real story here?
It might be. National outlets have the resources to rank well anyway. But a local paper in Lancashire? They're invisible in most searches unless someone specifically looks for them. This feature gives readers a way to say, "I want to know what's happening in my town," and actually get that.
What about the Spotlighting Subscriptions part? That seems like it's pushing people toward paywalls.
It's more subtle than that. If you already subscribe to something, it just makes that content easier to find in search. It's not creating a paywall—it's rewarding the people who've already paid.
Does this actually change how people consume news, or is it just a settings menu most people will ignore?
That's the real question. The feature exists, but adoption depends on whether people care enough to customize their search. Most won't. But for the ones who do—the people who want local news, or who subscribe to specific outlets—it could genuinely reshape what they see.