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Google’s Local News was launched in the U.S. in 2008 and reached Indian, British, German and Canadian residents just this year. The company has now released Google Local news in France too.

The service keeps users updated with the goings-on in their locality. Native publications are promoted as local news story sources by Google’s algorithms. Important stories emanating from the search area will appear as the top results.

According to the official Google blog, their algorithms are being fine-tuned to comprehend the applicable areas for the story as well as the reporting location. Local News may be added to a Google News homepage by filling the user’s city/postal code in the local search bar placed in the local section.

Local news may also be set up by selecting the ‘Personalize this page’ option that shows up on the top right corner of the page. The postal/city code must be filled in the box that appears when the ‘Add a local section’ link on the menu is clicked. Users will find this section on their Google News pages after choosing the ‘Add Section’ option.

Google Local News was introduced as a way to keep users informed on the current stories making news in their localities.