Google Top Stories Preferred Sources Labs Feature Can Be Big For Publishers

Google Search is testing yet another way to indicate to Google that you prefer specific sources, news sources, and publications, so that Google can show you fresh content from those sources. It is a Search Labs feature called "Preferred Sources" and is available for English in the US and India.

You can turn on the feature in Labs over here and once you do that, you should see an icon in the Top Stories section to star sources. After you star those sources, those sources should come up more often in the Top Stories section of Google Search, going forward.

Google wrote:

If you opt in to the experiment, you can tap the starred icon to the right of the Top Stories header. Then, you’ll have the option to select your preferred sources (if a site is publishing fresh content). You’ll start to see more of the latest updates from your selected sites in Top Stories when they have new articles or posts that are relevant to your search. Your sources will be clearly labeled and will appear in addition to other results in Top Stories, so you can see what your favorite sites have to say along with a range of sources.

Here is a mock-up from Google:

Here is how you set it up:

Then when you see the top stories carousel, you see a star icon on the top right, clicking on it brings it up as well:

As Glenn Gabe said on X, "Are you a news publisher? A BIG heads-up. Google is testing a "Preferred Sources" experiment for Top Stories."

Google's New 'Preferred Sources' test. Super interesting and shows how important it is to build an audience, a brand, a strong reputation, etc. Once you click the star in Top Stories, you can choose your preferred sites. Then hit 'reload' and Top Stories now contains those… pic.twitter.com/efrzinSDrD

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) June 27, 2025

If this rolls out beyond labs, asking your loyal readership to star you can lead to more traffic from Google Search.

Special block "from your sources"

Example with "Search Engine Land" pic.twitter.com/XHJ996mYbh

— Damien (andell) (@AndellDam) June 27, 2025

Forum discussion at X.