3 ms·

Protip: identify the news sources you don't like and ban them wholesale under "Manage Sections / Sources" in Google News. Banning just a few improves the experi

by 0xbear 9y ago

Protip: identify the news sources you don't like and ban them wholesale under "Manage Sections / Sources" in Google News. Banning just a few improves the experience tremendously. HuffPo and Buzzfeed are prime candidates for the ban hammer.

shishy 9y ago
Isn't Buzzfeed news decent? I know their main site is full of clickbait, etc. but I was always under the impression that they used the money from there to fund their other journalistic ventures? Interesting, I suppose, how a negative perception of their clickbait side can negatively skew any decent/viable journalistic efforts... Now that I think about it, I'm not 100% sure if I find it decent because I'm sub-consciously comparing it to the rest of Buzzfeed vs. all other news in general.
cpncrunch 9y ago
It actually looks like all of these are legitimate news sites that have been hacked so that they redirect to viagra sites if the url is crafted correctly and if the referral comes from google news, e.g. http://www.maceandcrown.com/?zhq49qb=1658898069 http://www.maceandcrown.com/?zhq49qb=1658898069 (link works fine there, but when referred from google news it goes to a viagra site).
SyneRyder 9y ago
This is a great tip (eg banning TMZ seems like a great idea). Unfortunately, if you switch between US & regional Google News often (maybe you mostly read Google News Australia), it has a tendency to delete all your carefully curated settings on both sites. You can also add preferred sources now, which helps a lot (when they don't delete it). I found adding WSJ, Deutsche Welle, FT, Bloomberg, Financial Review & similar sources improved things for me. I wish I could add blogs I follow there too. I'd love to see a Google News alternative that used a customisable whitelist of sources, and mute filters to block topics I'm just not interested in.
- 0xbear 9y ago
  I actually think it just loses your choices completely on its own and local news thing is unrelated. If you add them a few more times, they stick.

by 0xbear 9y ago

shishy 9y ago

Isn't Buzzfeed news decent? I know their main site is full of clickbait, etc. but I was always under the impression that they used the money from there to fund their other journalistic ventures? Interesting, I suppose, how a negative perception of their clickbait side can negatively skew any decent/viable journalistic efforts... Now that I think about it, I'm not 100% sure if I find it decent because I'm sub-consciously comparing it to the rest of Buzzfeed vs. all other news in general.

cpncrunch 9y ago

It actually looks like all of these are legitimate news sites that have been hacked so that they redirect to viagra sites if the url is crafted correctly and if the referral comes from google news, e.g. http://www.maceandcrown.com/?zhq49qb=1658898069 http://www.maceandcrown.com/?zhq49qb=1658898069 (link works fine there, but when referred from google news it goes to a viagra site).

SyneRyder 9y ago

This is a great tip (eg banning TMZ seems like a great idea). Unfortunately, if you switch between US & regional Google News often (maybe you mostly read Google News Australia), it has a tendency to delete all your carefully curated settings on both sites. You can also add preferred sources now, which helps a lot (when they don't delete it). I found adding WSJ, Deutsche Welle, FT, Bloomberg, Financial Review & similar sources improved things for me. I wish I could add blogs I follow there too. I'd love to see a Google News alternative that used a customisable whitelist of sources, and mute filters to block topics I'm just not interested in.

0xbear 9y ago
I actually think it just loses your choices completely on its own and local news thing is unrelated. If you add them a few more times, they stick.