Google's 'Preferred Sources' feature for news: How to add The National to your list

Fine-tune your Google Search and Discover feeds to keep up with the Middle East's leading quality news title

Adding The National to your 'Preferred Sources' list on Google tailors your results. Antonie Robertson/The National

Google's “Preferred Sources” lets you add The National as one of your favourite news sites to visit.

The tool, which was introduced globally to English-language sites in December, allows users to choose which publishers they see in the “Top Stories” section of search results.

How to add The National to your Preferred Sources

Adding The National to your Preferred Sources list on Google tailors your results

The simplest way to add The National to your list is through this link. Make sure you are logged in to your Google account first.

Alternatively, you can follow these simple steps:

1. When you search for a topic that is in the news, it will pull up the Top Stories results section
2. Tap the icon in the corner to open your preferences and search for thenationalnews.com or any news brands you choose
3. Refresh your results, and you will see more from your preferred sites

Articles in the Top Stories section are generated using an algorithm and depend on the user's search terms. If a preferred source has published new and relevant content on the searched topic, it will be displayed more prominently in the results, among a mix of other related headlines from other titles.

Google said the feature “helps websites strengthen their audiences”. According to its own data, when someone picks a preferred source, they click that site twice as much on average. Initially launched in the US and India in August, the tech giant said it had received “great feedback”.

Follow on Discover

Follow The National on Google Discover to add more of the Middle East's leading quality title to your feed

Google's Discover feed, available on mobile through the Google app or a right swipe on Android home screens, is a personalised content aggregator without the need to search. Articles, videos and social media posts are curated below the search bar.

Its algorithm learns user preferences from search history, app usage and interactions, and presents a similar stream of updates and features from news brands and creators.

You can fine-tune your results on Discover to see more from your preferred publishers by selecting the “follow” tab.

Access to the “follow” tab is not yet universal, and while Google has been testing a Discover feed for desktop, there has yet to be an announcement about a full introduction.