Google search is certainly something these days. Between AI overviews, shopping carousels, and a heck of a lot of spam, it can feel like you don’t have a lot of control over what pops up in your browser. The reality is, Google now looks different for everyone, but even a tailored algorithm won’t always get you where you want to go.

To give users a direct say in their search results, Google rolled out “Preferred Sources” in August 2025. This specifically affects what publishers or sources are appearing in the “Top Stories’ section on Google. If you want more IGN in your life, here’s how you can make us a preferred source for you. The same steps apply to any other website.

How to Set a Preferred Source in Google

The easiest route is logging into a Google account and heading directly to https://www.google.com/preferences/source. This will bring you to a page in your Account Settings called “Source Preferences.” Simply type in the homepage URL for your favorite publisher, in my case, IGN.com, and it will be automatically added to your preferred sources and appear more often in Top Stories carousels.

You can also type something (anything) into Google that could pull up a Top Stories carousel like the one shown below. Clicking on the little button to the right of the “Top Stories” header reveals the same “Source Preferences” page as a small-pop up, letting you adust your source preferences on the fly. You can add as many preferred sources as you want, and rest assured Google will still show you other results when they’re more relevant to your query.