What is Google News search?
Google News search connects directly to the Google News index to return articles relevant to your search.
The search interprets the intent behind your search, not just the keywords.
Filters explained
With Google News search, you can filter the results by location or article age.
You can also select to see 100 or 200 results, but be aware when selecting 200 results that the relevancy of the articles can dwindle towards the bottom.
A note on the location filter
We are using Google's location filter, but it's important to note that this filter is not absolute. Articles that are considered relevant but originate from outside your selected location may still appear.
For example, if you search for a topic that has recently received significant coverage in UK news but not in the US, you will mostly see UK articles, even if you apply a US location filter.
To better surface articles from a specific location, you can try including the location in your search terms. Alternatively, you can search for a specific news story that's similar to your campaign and was covered in the location you want to target.
If you don't see the country you would like to filter the results to under the location filter, please reach out to us via live chat.
We are able add new location filters after testing.
Previewing a search
You will notice a small button above the 'search' button, which says 'preview search'.
This will load a preview of your search results in a separate tab.
Because the search is connected directly to the internet, it can take a few seconds to fully load.
The preview however loads instantly and enables you to quickly check that the results align with what you are expecting. If they don't you can go back and tweak the search without having wasted time waiting for it to load.
Guidance on how to search effectively
P.S. there's an even more in-depth article on effective searching here.
1) Preview your results before searching to quickly ensure that they align with what you are expecting. If not - go back and tweak your search.
2) Use news-style phrases. Think like a journalist writing a headline.
For example, to find journalists who write in the auto niche try “Trump tariffs car sales” or “EV Slate”.
Both things which have made headlines in the car industry recently.
3) Avoid vague, one-word searches like “car” or “auto” - these searches will return mixed results with a focus on very authoritative sites e.g. Government sites.
4) Focus on one topic at a time
Mixing intents can confuse the search and dilute the relevance of the results.
5) Add a location name if you want local coverage.
For example search ‘Texas scams” to uncover texas specific outlets covering this topics.
For more information on finding regional journalists - check out this article.
Using search operators
You can use all the same search operators you can use in Google Search in our tool.
In Google News search, you can use as many Boolean operators (e.g OR) as you want but search modifiers (e.g. site:) are limited to one per search.
Boolean operator examples
"Quotation marks" - Searches for an exact phrase in that specific order. For example, "mental health" finds pages with those exact words together.
Use AND to require both words (elon AND trillionaire)
Use OR to broaden searches (best hotel OR best resort)
Search modifier examples
Use intitle: to find articles with your term in the headline, for example "intitle:Texas scams"
Minus (-) - Excludes specific terms from your search. For example, "gin launch -snoop dogg" would show results about gin launches, but exclude any mentioning Snoop Dogg's Gin.
You can also remove entire domains with "-site:", for example, "-site:forbes.com" will remove any forbes results.
Site: Restricts results to a specific website or domain.
To learn more about the different search operators, check out this article.