What is Google Top Stories carousel?

Google Top Stories is a prominent section within Google Search that features trending news articles related to users' search queries. It prioritises timely, relevant content from reputable sources, displaying it at the top of the search results page to provide users with the most current news information.

Where It Appears?

Top Stories typically appear prominently at the top of the Google Search results page, providing immediate visibility to the most relevant news articles. This section is featured both on desktop and mobile devices, ensuring that users can quickly access current news regardless of the device they are using.

Google Top Stories is presented as a carousel or a vertical list, depending on the device and the specific search. Here are the main features:

• Carousel Format: On mobile devices and sometimes on desktop, Top Stories often appear as a horizontal carousel with scrollable news cards. Each card typically includes a headline, source name, thumbnail image, and publication time.

• Vertical List Format: On desktops, Top Stories may also appear as a vertical list of links, with each entry showing a headline, source, and sometimes a small image or publication date.

• Source Attribution: Each article prominently displays the name of the news outlet, helping users quickly identify the source.

• Publication Time: The time since publication (e.g., "2 hours ago") is usually displayed, emphasising the timeliness of the content.

These features are designed to make it easy for users to find and engage with the most relevant and up-to-date news content.

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How Google Top Stories Works

Algorithmic Selection:

Google's algorithm selects content for Top Stories by evaluating three main factors:

• Relevance: It prioritises articles that closely match the user's search query, ensuring the content is directly related.
• Timeliness: Recent and frequently updated news is favored, highlighting the latest developments.
• Credibility: Trusted sources with a strong reputation and reliable reporting are more likely to be featured.

These criteria help ensure that users receive the most relevant, current, and credible news in their Top Stories.

Content Types

Google Top Stories can feature various types of content, including:

• Articles: News articles from reputable publishers are the most common content, offering detailed reporting on current events.
• Videos: Video news segments from trusted sources are also featured, providing visual and audio content on trending topics.
• Live Blogs: Real-time updates through live blogs can appear, offering continuous coverage of ongoing events.

Svet Petkov

Svet Petkov is the founder of StoryHawk. He has a solid background in SEO optimisation and in the past couple of year in SEO for news publisher. With his passion of Python and data he is alway interest in providing a valuable data and sotry behind.