Creating a Customized News Aggregator: My Journey Beyond Google News

In today’s fast-paced information landscape, staying informed across multiple niches is essential, especially for professionals who rely heavily on timely and relevant news. For years, I depended on Google News to fulfill this need. However, over time, I became increasingly frustrated with its algorithmic curation—seeing sources I didn’t recognize or trust, which undermined the reliability of my news feed.

Motivated by this challenge, I embarked on developing a personalized news aggregator tailored to my specific interests and trusted sources. This blog outlines my experience and the features of the platform I built, which is entirely free for users seeking a more curated news experience.

Introducing 100.news: A Custom News Platform

The core idea was to create a site that puts control back into the user’s hands, allowing them to define exactly what they want to see. The result is 100.news, a news aggregator that offers:

• Topic and Keyword Selection: Users can specify the subjects they care about—whether it’s Artificial Intelligence, bonds, regional news in Africa, or any other niche. This customization ensures relevance and saves time.

• Trusted Source Curation: Recognizing that many reputable outlets gatekeep or have inaccessible RSS feeds, I have linked over 70 trusted sources that openly make their content available via RSS. This selection includes well-known outlets like The Economist and The Times, among others. By choosing sources strategically, users receive news only from sources they deem credible.

How It Works

The platform fetches real-time news feeds based on your selected topics and sources. This means you get a live stream of updates matching your interests, filtered through your trusted outlets—eliminating unnecessary noise and ambiguities common with larger aggregators.

Early Feedback and Next Steps

As this project is still in its early stages, I’m eager to hear feedback on the usability and features. Based on user suggestions, I plan to make improvements, such as streamlining the sign-up process—recent adjustments will reduce the required information, making onboarding even easier.

Conclusion

Building this custom news aggregator has been an empowering experience, emphasizing the importance of user control and trustworthy sourcing in news consumption. If you’re tired of generic feeds or unreliable sources, check out 100.news. I believe this tool can help many professionals and enthusiasts stay informed more accurately.

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