In the middle of shifting algorithms and shrinking visibility, Google has introduced a feature that puts news publishers back in the spotlight. With this new feature, users will be able to see more of their favorite websites in Top Stories on Google Search.
Google’s new feature called Preferred Source is rolled out in the US and in India only and will be rolled out to the rest of the world in a staggered manner. This new update allows users to select their favourite new publishers as the source of their news and to stay updated. As a result, these readers will start seeing top stories from their preferred news publisher in Top Stories.
The latest feature from Google will cause a shift in traffic going to publishers in our view. Publishers that have built a community and have a loyal audience will see more readers coming to their article from Top Stories. This could impact the traffic naturally going to high DA, high authority sites that dominated the Top Stories feature earlier.
Here is how readers can select the publishers they wish to see more of in the top stories section.
Readers will have to first search a topic that is in the news to trigger the Top Stories feature on search. Once triggered you will see Top Stories with a button next to it.
By clicking on the + button,a pop-up appears asking readers to search for publishers of their choice. Readers can then add multiple publishers of their choice on this list.
Once the publishers of their choice are added, these preferences are shared and pushed for Top Stories whenever applicable.
How can Publishers Secure a Spot on Top Stories?
As publishers, you can urge your readers to add your website as their preferred source. If your site gets features in top stories, you can direct users to add your publication as a preferred source. Google offers a deeplink, when clicked this adds your website straight to the preferred source.
Deeplink URL: https://google.com/preferences/source?q=<your website URL>You can also use the following CTA button provided by Google.
A good way of doing this would be to add a suggestion at the end of your trending articles. You should also leverage other acquisition channels you’ve built over the years for promoting this. If you’ve built a push notification audience, you can send this as a notification. With iZooto, you can include this CTA as a button on the notification, helping you get a quick conversion. If you are using News Hub by iZooto you can suggest flyby visitors to add your publication as a preferred source as well.
