Google News has long been one of the most convenient ways to stay informed about current events—at least, if you’re already familiar with the types of news sources to follow. (It’s no secret that many people still don’t have their own Google News feeds.) But one of the app’s lesser-known features can help you discover new types of sources and stories that interest you more than ever. It’s called Explore Feed, and we think it could be one of the best things to happen to Google News since search results became more personalized. Google News’ Best-kept Secret: How to Find the Most Engaging Stories
Do a search within a niche
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If you’re looking for something specific, but don’t know where to find it, Google News is a good place to start. You can search for a topic and see how much it’s been covered in the media. The higher the number of articles about that topic, the more popular it is with readers. You can also see how long ago each story was published so you can tell which stories are still relevant and which ones are outdated.
Select Show > 10 results per page
On Google News, there’s a secret trick that allows you to see how many times a particular story has been clicked on. It’s called featured snippet, and it displays an excerpt of a story at the top of Google search results for that topic. For example, if you’re looking for stories about President Trump’s first 100 days in office, one of these snippets might include the sentence He signed an executive order withdrawing America from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The more people who click on this sentence, the higher it will rank in search results, and so it will be displayed more prominently than other sentences.
Select ‘Order by date – newest first’
If you find yourself bored at work, check out what’s trending on Google News. A recent post by Ian Lamont called The 10 best secrets of Google News revealed a little known secret about how to find the most engaging stories. He writes, Many people don’t know that Google offers news in reverse chronological order and you can change how many sources are shown per page. You can type ‘news -rss’ into your browser and it will give you a view of all the latest headlines from around the world. This is a great way to keep up with events going on right now as well as different perspectives on current events.
Pick stories with between 1500 and 2000 likes, comments, shares
How do you find the best stories on Google News? The answer may surprise you: You should look for those with the most engagement. Here’s why. Social media signals have been shown to be a reliable indicator of quality. A well-shared story is likely good and worthy of your time, while one that isn’t resonating probably isn’t worth it.
It makes sense, too: people often share content they find interesting or valuable, so when they click that button on Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp, it shows that they liked what they read enough to want their friends and followers to see it too.
When deciding whether or not to click through a story in search results, just think about how many times someone has already engaged with this content before you make up your mind.
Read your list, then read every story at the top of that list
This is Google’s best kept secret, and it’s a very cool function. After making your search, scroll down to Top stories on the left side of the screen. There you will see a list of articles from different sources that are all about your topic. The articles with pictures and those that have more shares or comments will appear first. That way you can find out what people think are the best articles about your topic.
This is Google’s best kept secret, and it’s a very cool function. After making your search, scroll down to Top stories on the left side of the screen. There you will see a list of articles from different sources that are all about your topic. The articles with pictures and those that have more shares or comments will appear first.