Google News
Google News indexes journalistic and news content via RSS feed or auto-discovered pages, under strict criteria: identifiable author, visible publication date, clear editorial policy, and compliance with spam guidelines. Meeting these criteria opens access to Top Stories placement.
In practice
To be included in Google News, a site must comply with Google’s editorial guidelines and publish timely news content (not product pages or static content). The NewsArticle schema with properly populated author, datePublished, and image properties improves eligibility for Top Stories. A local news outlet can earn significant Google News traffic without high domain authority if its articles are published quickly after events.