The U.S. election season brings a huge surge in online activity, with millions of people turning to search engines for the latest news and updates. During this time, ranking high in Google’s Top Stories becomes crucial for news publishers. Getting featured in this section can drive massive traffic and boost visibility, giving publishers an edge over their competitors.

We will dive into how news publishers rank in Google’s Top Stories during U.S. elections. We’ll look at key statistics and trends from our Top Stories tracker SotryHawk that show which outlets dominate and what strategies help them succeed. Whether you’re a major news network or a smaller publication, understanding these trends can help you improve your search rankings when it matters most.

The Role of Google Top Stories During the Election

Google’s Top Stories section is a key traffic driver during U.S. elections. As search interest spikes for breaking news and updates, publishers featured in the Top Stories carousel gain instant visibility. This prime position boosts click-through rates and helps news outlets capture a larger share of the election-driven traffic. For publishers, ranking in Top Stories during election events is a crucial advantage.

Google News News surfaces during the US election

Google's search interface for elections, particularly during major events like the U.S. election, is designed to offer users a variety of content through distinct carousels. These carousels help organize information based on relevance, location, and context:

Top Stories Carousel

This section displays the most current and important news stories related to the election. It's usually placed at the top of the search results and is updated frequently with the latest breaking news from various reputable publishers.

Local News Carousel

Tailored to the user’s location, this carousel features election-related news from local sources, focusing on regional issues, races, and voter information.

States in the News Carousel

This section appears only in the US and allows users to explore election coverage state-by-state, with each tab showing specific news and updates for that particular state.

For Context Carousel

Provides additional background and analysis on key election topics. This section gives users broader insights and detailed explanations about the election process, figures, and events.

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Top News Publishers Dominating Google Top Stories

Visibility

Last update: 19.10.2024

The comparison of the data shows several key changes in visibility and impressions among the top news competitors:

• CNN continues to dominate in Google Top Stories visibility, showing a significant increase in both impressions and the number of unique URLs. This growth solidifies CNN's leading position, expanding its visibility even further compared to other outlets.
• The New York Times maintains its strong second position, but the gap between CNN and The New York Times has widened, indicating that CNN's growth is outpacing that of The New York Times despite its consistent performance.
• Fox News has moved up significantly, ranking third and displaying an increase in impressions. This improvement suggests that Fox News has increased its visibility, closing in on the leaders, although it still lags behind CNN and The New York Times.
• Newsweek and USA Today follow, with both outlets showing steady visibility and maintaining a similar level of impressions, indicating consistency in their presence in Top Stories carousels.
• The Independent and NBC News have moderate visibility, but their impressions have remained stable compared to higher-ranking outlets, showing limited growth in overall impact.
• The Hill, Politico, and The Guardian round out the list with similar visibility levels. While they maintain a consistent presence, their lower impressions indicate a smaller impact in comparison to the top competitors.

Overall, the data highlights CNN's growing dominance, widening its lead over The New York Times. Fox News has improved its visibility significantly, while other competitors show either stable performance or modest growth, maintaining their respective positions in the landscape.

Top performing headlines

Last update: 19.10.2024

The top headlines focus on election-related topics, showing the publisher, impressions, and average ranking positions.

Bergen Record achieved the highest visibility with 688 impressions and an average ranking position of 2.44, concentrating on evolving poll analyses.

Barron's and USA Today follow closely with 634 and 620 impressions, respectively, with USA Today emphasizing Trump’s improved odds according to recent polls.

Other notable publishers include Politico and The Arizona Republic, each surpassing 590 impressions.

Outlets like The New York Times and CNN also performed well by highlighting shifts in the political landscape, such as Harris’s rise and expert opinions on election outcomes.

Observations:

• There is a strong emphasis on headlines that update readers on polls and odds, breaking down the implications for both candidates.
• Historical or expert-driven predictions remain effective, with publishers like CNN and USA Today leveraging expert opinions (e.g., Allan Lichtman) to engage audiences.
• Interactive and data-driven content, such as the coverage from FiveThirtyEight, also gained traction despite having a slightly lower average ranking position, showing that this type of content can still attract a significant audience.

Label/badge distribution in Google Top Stories and news carousels

The table displays the top-performing headlines in Google Top Stories during the 2024 U.S. election, with their corresponding labels ("live" or "video"), record count, publisher names, and average position. Here's a summary of the data:

1. "Live" Labels (LiveBlogPosting):
   • LiveBlog as usual was more frequent on the list, appearing for publishers like CNN, NBC News, The Guardian, The Independent, and MSNBC News.
   • CNN had multiple "live" entries, with the top headline "Trump and Harris campaign in battleground states in final sprint to Election Day" appearing 74 times and ranking at an average position of 3.16.
   • Other "liveblog" headlines had average positions ranging from 2.36 to 4.19, showing their consistent presence in Google’s Top Stories during live election coverage.
2. "Video" Labels:
   • Several headlines were labeled as "video," with CNN, WFAA, Fox News, and FOX 26 Houston featuring video content.
   • Fox News had the best-performing video headline with "Voters at Michigan diner predict who will be the next president", ranking at an average position of 1.
   • Other video headlines generally ranked well, with positions between 2.36 and 3.46, indicating that video content also played a significant role in Google Top Stories during election coverage.

Other label statistics

The pre-election data from October 2024, supported by the pie chart, provides insights into how headlines appeared in Google Top Stories leading up to the U.S. election. The chart highlights the distribution of various content labels such as live, video, fact-check, and highly cited, each playing a significant role in determining the prominence and visibility of headlines during this critical period before the November election.

1. Live Content Dominated Google Top Stories:

• 298 headlines were labeled as "live", making up the largest share of featured content in Google Top Stories during the election. This reflects the high demand for real-time, up-to-the-minute election coverage. Publishers like CNN, NBC News, and The Guardian frequently used this label to capture immediate attention during key moments in the election cycle.

2. Video Content Was Also Highly Featured:

• 215 headlines carried the "video" label, highlighting the importance of visual content. Video headlines performed well, with publishers like CNN, Fox News, and WFAA leveraging video to engage audiences. Notably, video content was highly ranked, such as Fox News' headline on Michigan voters, which held an impressive average position of 1.

3. Fact-check and Highly Cited Headlines Played a Crucial Role:

• Fact-checking was a smaller but critical part of the content, with 15 headlines labeled as "fact check". This shows the importance of verifying information in an environment often influenced by misinformation, particularly during political events.
• Highly cited content, although accounting for only 8 headlines, emphasized the value of credibility and well-referenced articles. These headlines typically come from authoritative publishers and add to the trustworthiness of the news, which can impact rankings positively.

The analysis is based on a hardcoded list of relevant keywords for the period of October 3rd to October 5th, 2024, and we will update the data and screenshots regularly from our team to keep up with the evolving landscape. If you're interested in tracking Top Stories performance or need insights into your content's visibility, get in touch with our team for expert support.