Google News propped up stories from Qatari-tied media outlet Al Jazeera in what has become a bit of a trend for the news aggregator.
The Media Research Center collected data that shows Google News promoted Al Jazeera stories 125% more from May to June. The increase in promotion on the tech giant’s pages correlated with Al Jazeera’s noticeable 6% jump in traffic from May to June when many of the most visited U.S. media entities saw a drop in month-on-month viewership, according to Press Gazette’s Top 50 U.S. news websites.
Instead of relying on U.S. news outlets to cover U.S. news topics, the Silicon Valley tech giant known for news and information dissemination repeatedly selected the foreign-based, AllSides-rated “lean left” Al Jazeera stories, painting American issues with a decidedly leftist bias.
And this is not the first time either. MRC previously documented a website traffic upswing for the Qatari-tied outlet from February to March when Google News increased its promotion of Al Jazeera 250% month-on-month.
MRC’s Findings:
- MRC's very own Digital News Tracker data shows at least one reason why Al Jazeera has seen an 8% year-on-year and 6% month-on-month website traffic increase on Press Gazette’s top 50 U.S. news websites list: In its top 20 morning editions, Google News promoted Al Jazeera eight times in May and 18 times in June, a 125% increase from month to month.
- In both May and June, nearly 70% (18 of 26) of Google News-promoted stories from Qatar-tied Al Jazeera were about U.S. news.
- Google News promoted Al Jazeera stories about U.S. news 15 times in the mornings in May and June, when it was also promoting stories from other outlets about the same topic.
- On three separate occasions, Google News promoted an Al Jazeera story as its only coverage of a topic when it could have promoted stories from right-leaning outlets also among the Press Gazette’s U.S. Top 50 news sites for June, like Fox News, the New York Post or Breitbart News.
Google News Promoted Eight Al Jazeera Stories in May and 18 in June, a 125% Increase
Qatari-tied Al Jazeera was one of only five winners in increased traffic year-on-year June, with an 8% increase, according to data presented by the Press Gazette in its June “Top 50 US news websites” report. Traffic to the website also increased 6% month-on-month, growing to 23.5 million visits per month in June from May’s total of 22.1 million visits.
Google News assisted the Qatar-linked outlet in its June achievement. In May, the digital gatekeeper promoted eight Al Jazeera stories among its top 20 morning editions. In June, Google News increased the number of Al Jazeera stories it featured by 125%, promoting 18 in its top 20 morning editions for the month.
While these numbers tell part of the story, MRC researchers dug deeper into the topics covered by the Al Jazeera stories Google News featured in an attempt to understand why the news aggregator might highlight so many stories from the foreign-based news outlet.
Nearly 70% of Al Jazeera Stories Promoted by Google News in May and June Covered U.S. News
In both May and June, almost 70% of the Al Jazeera stories Google News featured in its daily top 20 stories were on subjects of U.S. news. In May, roughly 88% of the stories featured covered U.S. news topics (7 out of 8 stories). In June, it was 61% (11 of 18 stories).
Among the U.S. news stories featured were 10 stories about the Iran war, including:
- “What’s Iran’s 14-point proposal to end the war? And will Trump accept it?” promoted on May 3.
“Iran war: What is happening on day 92 as Trump weighs Iran deal,” promoted on May 30.
MRC Graphic- “US House votes to end Trump’s Iran war: Does it matter?” promoted on June 4.
- “Iran war day 103: US strikes after helicopter shot down, Tehran hits back,” promoted on June 10.
- Iran war day 104: Iran attacks US bases, closes strait after Trump strikes,” promoted on June 11.
- “Iran war live: Tehran condemns US attacks, hits US bases in Middle East,” promoted on June 11.
- “Iran war live: Trump claims peace deal ‘approved’; Tehran says not so,” promoted on June 12.
- “What the Trump-Iran agreement says about Lebanon, Hormuz and uranium,” promoted on June 18.
- “Oil prices ease after spiking over halt to Strait of Hormuz evacuation plan,” promoted on June 26.
- “Iran attacks Kuwait and Bahrain in response to US strikes,” promoted on June 28.
An additional eight stories had no connection to the Middle East at all, and yet Google News still promoted stories from the Hamas-sympathizing outlet Al Jazeera in its daily top news headlines. These stories included:
- “Rubio arrives at Vatican to meet Pope Leo amid Trump attacks,” promoted on May 7.
- “US President Trump, family granted immunity from pending tax audits,” promoted on May 20.
- “Failing chemical tank forces thousands to evacuate in Southern California,” promoted on May 23.
- “Kenyan court suspends US Ebola quarantine facility plan,” promoted on May 29.
- “Trump pledges to withdraw from Kennedy Center after court strikes his name,” promoted on May 30.
- “Eight people killed in US Air Force B-52 bomber crash: What we know,” promoted on June 16.
- “US primaries in Oklahoma, Georgia, others: Key takeaways from the results,” promoted on June 17.
- “Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui gets 30 years in US prison for huge fraud,” promoted on June 30.
Seemingly adding insult to injury, 15 of the 18 Al Jazeera stories that Google News promoted that covered U.S. news were redundant. In each case, Google News also promoted additional stories about the same subject from different outlets on the same day.
For example, on May 3, when Google News featured Al Jazeera’s Trump-skeptical piece as its top story on the U.S.-Iran War that morning, the tech giant also promoted three separate, and strikingly similar, stories from CNN, Politico and The New York Times.
- “Live Updates: Trump says Iran has ‘not yet paid a big enough price’ as he reviews new peace proposal,” by CNN, promoted May 3.
- “Trump says he is reviewing a new Iranian proposal to end the war,” by Politico, promoted May 3.
- “Trump Administration Live Updates: President Expresses Skepticism Over Latest Iran Proposal,” by The New York Times, promoted May 3.
Google News Could Have Promoted Stories from Right-Leaning Outlets, But Chose Not to Do So
Google left plenty of meat on the bone when it comes to sharing news and information from right-leaning outlets.
Based on website traffic, the top three U.S.-based, right-leaning media outlets are Fox News, New York Post and Breitbart News. Google had the option to share at least one article from each of these outlets for each Al Jazeera story promoted during the period covered, but it chose not to.
On three separate occasions, Google News chose to exclusively highlight Al Jazeera stories about U.S. news as the only featured article about a particular topic, making the foreign-based outlet the only exposure readers received in the top 20 morning editions. All three of these stories were covered by numerous right-leaning outlets that Google News could have highlighted instead of Al Jazeera.
On May 7, when Google News featured Al Jazeera’s take on Secretary of State Marco Rubio meeting with Pope Leo, it could have chosen from multiple right-leaning options instead, such as:
- “Rubio holds ‘constructive’ meeting with Pope Leo after Trump sends hard-line Iran message to Vatican,” by Fox News on May 7.
- “Pope Leo meets U.S. Secretary of State Rubio amid tensions with President Trump,” by EWTN on May 7.
- “Reports: Pope Leo XIV’s Audience With Marco Rubio Goes Long, Cuba and Iran Discussed,” by Breitbart on May 7.
On May 29, Google News highlighted an Al Jazeera story about a Kenyan court halting U.S. plans to quarantine Ebola-exposed Americans in place. Instead of relying on foreign-tied Al Jazeera’s reporting, the following stories from right-leaning outlets were available:
- “Kenya court suspends US plan to establish Ebola quarantine facility for exposed Americans,” by New York Post on May 29.
- “Court Stops Quarantine Facility in Kenya for U.S. Citizens Exposed to Ebola Instead of Flying Them Home,” by Breitbart on May 29.
- “Kenyan court halts plans for US Ebola quarantine facility,” by the Washington Examiner on May 29.
On June 30, Google News selected an Al Jazeera story to explain the sentence doled out by an American court to a Chinese businessman instead of providing the perspective of right-leaning outlets on the subject, such as:
- “Exiled Chinese entrepreneur Guo Wengui gets 30 years for fraud,” by Breitbart on June 30.
- “Chinese Billionaire Who Infiltrated American Politics Sentenced For Fraud,” by The Daily Wire on June 30.
- “Miles Guo, Anti-CCP Dissident Whom Biden Admin Charged, Receives 30 Years In Prison,” by PJ Media on June 30.
Some of the additional right-leaning stories Google News could have featured, but chose not to, included:
- “READ IT: The full text of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding,” by Fox News on June 18.
- “Southern California chemical tank at risk of exploding as 40,000 residents are ordered to evacuate,” by Breitbart on May 23.
- “Federal judge orders Trump’s name removed from Kennedy Center, says only Congress can rename it,” by Fox News on May 29.
- “Trump suffers rare House defeat as bipartisan vote moves to withdraw troops from Iran conflict,” by Fox News on June 3.
- “Trump: U.S. ‘Must’ Respond After Iran Shot Down U.S. Army Helicopter Near Strait of Hormuz,” by Breitbart on June 9.
- “Trump Calls Off Iran Attacks, Claims US, Tehran to Sign Memorandum Agreement,” by CBN News on June 12.
- “Trump announces peace deal with Iran, ending hostilities,” by EWTN News on June 14.
- “Mike Collins wins GOP nod for Georgia Senate, teeing up battle with Sen. Jon Ossoff,” by the New York Post on June 16.
- “Trump-Backed Candidates Win Three Senate Primary Contests, Lose in Georgia Governor’s Race,” by CBN News on June 17.
Methodology: Using MRC’s Digital News Tracker, MRC researchers examined the top 20 stories promoted by Google News during the time period of May 1 - June 30, 2026 at approximately 8:30 AM ET. Researchers recorded the headlines of each Al Jazeera story, and each topically-corresponding story from any other outlet, promoted by Google News during the same period and analyzed the results. MRC Researchers used the AllSides media bias ratings, which categorize an outlet as “left,” “lean left,” “center,” “lean right” or “right” to determine the overall bias presented by Google News and analyzed the results.
