Google Top Stories highlights trending news articles at the top of search results. It updates frequently, showcasing articles from various sources based on relevance, freshness, and authority.

Tracking Top Stories helps SEO specialists, audience performance specialists, content creators, and news publishers understand ranking trends. By analysing this data, they can optimise content in almost real-time, improve visibility, and stay ahead of competitors.

Auick takeouts of what you can learn from tracking Google Top Stories.

- What are the published articles for one story in almost real-time (Entity, Keyword)

Tracking how many articles focus on a specific topic shows its demand. It also identifies which publishers dominate coverage and how they structure their reports.

- Who is ranking first with what structure of the title and page type

Examining the top-ranked article reveals how Google prioritises headlines. Understanding which wording captures attention helps in crafting engaging, SEO-friendly titles.

- Which Competitor or Article Has the Highest Visibility

Identifying the most frequently appearing article in Top Stories highlights the factors contributing to its success. Visibility depends on freshness, engagement, and publisher credibility.

1. Understanding Google’s News Priorities

What types of stories get featured?

Google favours breaking news, political events, global crises, and trending topics. Business updates and industry reports also gain traction.

Breaking News vs. Evergreen Content and Live Blog Posting

Breaking news dominates rankings but shifts rapidly. Evergreen content can hold its place if it offers strong analysis. Live blogs maintain visibility through constant updates.

The role of major publishers vs. smaller outlets

Larger publishers rank more consistently due to strong authority and publication frequency. However, smaller outlets can still gain traction by providing unique insights and rapid reporting if they have the right publication strategy.

2. Google News Ranking Factors

CTR & Engagement

Google tracks how people interact with articles, especially in Chrome. While CTR matters a lot for Top Stories, traditional bounce rates aren’t as relevant. Users often grab the info they need quickly from news articles, so a fast exit doesn’t always mean bad engagement.

Relevance

Does your content actually answer what the user is looking for? If it doesn’t meet their intent, it won’t rank well.

Originality

If you’re not the first to cover a topic, bring something fresh to the table. Add new insights, unique data, or a different angle to make your content stand out.

Freshness

If it’s news or time-sensitive info, staying up to date is key. Old content won’t cut it for trending topics.

If you want to learn more about the ranking factors we recommend the following sources:

• How Google REALLY ranks news sites
• Systems and methods for improving the ranking of news articles

3. Content Format Insights

Headlines, Formatting, and Word Count

Short, clear headlines perform best. Articles with structured sections and bullet points rank well. Word count varies by topic, but concise reports often perform better.

Impact of Multimedia

As we mentioned the CTR is a ranking factor on Google Top Stories that's why Google is showing more information on a page that is considered as a video page.

Pro tip: A video article is not a page with an embedded video on top of it.

Short vs. Long-Form Content

Short articles rank for fast news updates and increase the frequency of the publication. Long-form content performs well for analysis and deep reporting.

4. Publisher and Domain Trends

Which Publishers Consistently Rank?

Large media outlets dominate Top Stories, but niche publishers rank for specialised topics.

Mainstream vs. Niche Media

Mainstream media ranks higher for general news. Niche outlets perform well for industry-specific content.

Geographic Variations in Rankings

Google adjusts rankings based on user location. Local news may rank higher in specific regions.

International News Publishers

Some stories rank higher from international publishers, especially for global news. Tracking these trends shows how regional stories gain worldwide attention.

Example: For the query "macron news" from United Kingdon, almost none of the results are British publishers.

5. SEO and Technical Takeaways

Structured Data for Visibility

Schema markup improves rankings by helping Google understand the article’s context.

Recommended: Optimising Your News Publisher Website for Google Top Stories

Page Speed and AMP

Fast-loading pages have better visibility. StoryHawk can give you more insights about the proportion of AMP vs. non-AMP in Google Top Stories. This type of page are less used by publishers since Google removed them as a factor to appear on Top Stories.

Mobile vs. Desktop Differences

Google prioritises mobile-friendly articles. Mobile rankings may differ from desktop rankings based on user behavior because on the desktop there is one grid/section whereas on mobile there could be up to 3 carousels, depending on the demand of the topic.

Example:

• Mobile - Top Stories carousel on mobile for the query "Donald Trump latest", where on dominant position is The Independent

• Desktop - Top Stories carousel on a desktop for the same query "Donald Trump latest" where the first position is occupied by Sky News

6. Competitive Analysis Opportunities

What are the published articles per day or hour from competitors

Monitoring competitor publishing frequency reveals how often they produce news content. This insight helps adjust publishing strategies to remain competitive.

Example:

• For the last week, for the keywords "Donald Trump" CNN has the highest visibility with 4 different articles that are targeting this entity.

• If we have a look at the entity "elon musk" for the same time period we will see that the publisher with the highest visibility score is different (Fox News_

Identifying Gaps and Content Opportunities

If a competitor ranks frequently, studying their format can highlight gaps in your strategy. StoryHawk is providing an insights about what articles have with highest visibility for the last hour or couple of mins, so you can take this and create faster news trending articles.

Example:
As we already mentioned about the CTR as a ranking factor, this table gives insight into what pages with with highest visibility and on which position are ranking. Based on this we can make the conclusion an article is preferred by the users for this keyword/entity.

Improving Organic Search and News SEO

Adjusting content based on Top Stories trends improves ranking potential. Monitoring what works helps refine SEO efforts.

7. Predicting Trends and Algorithm Updates

Tracking Fluctuations to Detect Changes

Frequent shifts in rankings may indicate trend shifting that you have to be able to monitor and adapt. (especially for LiveBlogPosting)

Early Detection of Emerging Topics

Tracking new stories helps spot trending topics before they peak. This allows faster content creation.

In a different article, we will explain how you can use Google Trends for early indication of new trends.

Correlations Between Top Stories and Broader Search Trends

Changes in Top Stories can reflect wider shifts in search behaviour. Tracking these movements helps adjust content strategies.

Why to choose StoryHawk?

Tracking Google Top Stories with StoryHawk provides insights into ranking factors, content trends, and competitor activity. Businesses, journalists, and SEO professionals can use this data to refine strategies and improve visibility. Understanding how Google selects articles helps predict trends and adapt content for better performance.