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Google also announced yesterday on Twitter that a month ago it began to show more news stories in the top stories carousel from more local news sources. Google said on Twitter "last month, we made a change to help local content surface better within our Top Stories box." I kind have been noticing this, espesially when searching for COVID related topics - I am seeing more stories from New York sources and from Governor Cuomo - including the tweets Google shows (although Google didn't announce the Twitter thing yet).
In addition, Google said "added a new “Local news” box to show local news content in response to coronavirus-related searches." Here is a screen shot of that:
Google said for publishers to be seen, there is nothing specific for you to do. Google is already handling it on its end. Google said "For publishers, there’s no particular change to make. We already review a number of signals to understand if content seems particularly relevant to a location. Our change is simply to ensure we’re better balancing those signals to match local content to those searching for it..."
For publishers, there’s no particular change to make. We already review a number of signals to understand if content seems particularly relevant to a location. Our change is simply to ensure we’re better balancing those signals to match local content to those searching for it...
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) May 4, 2020
Have you noticed this change over the past month or so?
Forum discussion at Twitter.
