Google News, launched by Alphabet in 2002, is a specialized search engine for news content. It prominently displays news results as a box within the organic search results when topics are trending.
To appear in Google News snippets, websites must meet specific technical and quality standards and be part of Google's news program for publishers. Being included in Google News can significantly boost a site's traffic compared to standard indexing.
Google compiles and issues news for both desktop and mobile searches. On mobile, news sites often appear as AMP in search results. Users can specifically search for news using the “News” section on Google. The ranking of news URLs follows unique criteria, differing from the standard search algorithm, with the source's timeliness and authority being crucial factors.
For successful inclusion in Google News, websites must adhere to both general and technical guidelines. Key requirements include:
Google's general quality guidelines apply to news entries, though specific meta tags for news are no longer supported.
Technical requirements include:
Optimizing a site for Google News requires compliance with Google's technical and content guidelines. Failing to do so may result in rejection.
While not mandatory, a Google News sitemap is advisable. Typically, Google crawls all article URLs within two days, and the sitemap should list no more than 1,000 URLs, contrasting with standard sitemaps.
For practical purposes, ensure:
Rejection means the site will not be listed in Google News.
Google News faces criticism from publishers and newspapers, who argue that using article headlines and teasers infringes copyright, as these elements are displayed in News snippets. In Spain, this led Google to remove several sites from Google News, causing up to a 15% drop in visitors for those sites.
This conflict stems from ancillary copyright laws, introduced in Germany as “Lex Google” in 2013, which require compensation for web content used by others. Google disputes any copyright infringement in displaying snippets and headlines, but publishers argue that even this use requires licensing.
The law's vague wording complicates enforcement, making it unclear when fees apply. Despite disputes, Google remains a major traffic source for many media companies.
Google News pages enjoy high traffic, especially for trending topics that attract widespread attention.
To leverage this "traffic boost," it's crucial to publish articles on topics users are actively searching for.
A household goods online shop may struggle to feature on Google News compared to a blog about smartphones, as the latter often garners broader interest.
Webmasters and SEOs must decide if the editorial effort, financially and time-wise, justifies being listed in Google News.
Google News is also effective for monitoring new content online using “Google Alerts.” Users can set alerts through the Google News search, allowing them to "subscribe" to topics via keywords. When new content appears in the Google News index, subscribers receive email notifications.