Alerts Help

Google Alerts are emails automatically sent to you when there are new Google results for your search terms. You can also choose to have your alerts delivered via feed to the feedreader of your choice (e.g., Google Reader or add the feed to your iGoogle page). We currently offer alerts with results from News, Web, Blogs, Video and Groups.

2. What are the different types of alerts I can sign up for?

Google Alerts currently offers 6 variations of alerts - 'News', 'Web', 'Blogs', 'Comprehensive', 'Video' and 'Groups'.

A 'News' alert is an email aggregate of the latest news articles that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google News search.
A 'Web' alert is an email aggregate of the latest web pages that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top twenty results of your Google Web search.
A 'Blogs' alert is an email aggregate of the latest blog posts that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google Blog search.
A 'Comprehensive' alert is an aggregate of the latest results from multiple sources (News, Web and Blogs) into a single email to provide maximum coverage on the topic of your choice.
A 'Video' alert is an email aggregate of the latest videos that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top ten results of your Google Video search.
A 'Groups' alert is an email aggregate of new posts that contain the search terms of your choice and appear in the top fifty results of your Google Groups search.

3. How do I sign up?

Simply visit the Google Alerts home page, enter your search, the type of alert you'd like (News, Web, Video etc.), how often you'd like us to check for results, and your email address. When you're done, click the 'Create Alert' button. We'll send you a confirmation email; clicking the link in this email will activate your Alert.

You can create and confirm your Alert in one visit on your "Manage Yours Alerts" page. To access this page, you'll need to sign in to your Google Account. If you don't yet have an account, please visit the Google Accounts home page to create one.

You can also set up Video alerts directly from within Google Video search. Similarly, you can set up News alerts from within News search.

4. How frequently will I receive alerts?

The frequency you select when you set up your alert determines how often we check for new results, not necessarily how often you'll receive alerts. If you select "once a day," we'll check for new results once a day, which means you'll get a maximum of one email per day. If you choose the "as it happens," we'll check for new results continuously and send you an alert whenever we find a new result.

5. What kinds of topics make for interesting Google Alerts?

Well, if it's interesting to you, it's a good subject for a Google Alert. We've found that many alerts are set up by people who are:

monitoring a developing news story
keeping current on a competitor or industry
tracking medical advances
getting the latest on a celebrity or sports team
watching for new videos that match a specific topic

6. I'm not getting the alerts that I expected. How do I get more relevant results?

If the alerts that you are receiving for a particular query are not what you expected, then chances are that the terms you have picked are too broad or include incorrect punctuation. Try performing the same query on the property (Google News, Web, Video, etc.) from where you want to generate the alerts. If the results are too broad, then narrow down your terms. Also try putting quotes around searches with multiple keywords.
If the search returns no results, here are a few other suggestions:

Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
Try different keywords
Try more general keywords
Try fewer keywords

Also try using advanced search queries for your Google Alerts. To learn how to refine your overall Google web searches, visit our general Advanced Search page. To narrow your news searches, try our Advanced News Search page. Once you're happy with the results you get from an advanced search, copy and paste your advanced search query into the search box on the Google Alerts home page.

7. I have lots of Google Alerts. How do I manage them all?

On the 'Manage Your Alerts' page, you can view, create, verify, edit, and remove any alert you wish. To access this page, you'll need to create a Google Account. Doing so requires only your email address and a password. For more information, click the link at the bottom of the Google Alerts home page.

8. Why am I not able to sign in on the Google Alerts homepage?

If you're seeing an error message "username and password do not match," please check to make sure you're using the correct email address. If the email address is correct and you still seeing this error message, you may want to try resetting your account password. If you've requested password assistance and you receive a message that there's no Account in our system with your email address, this means that you don't have a Google Account registered to that email address. If you're receiving alerts at that address, don't worry, this isn't a bug; many users receive Google Alerts without ever creating a Google Account. If you'd like to cancel those alerts, you can do so by clicking on the delete link at the bottom of the alert emails. If you'd like to change your Alerts, you'll need to create a Google Account. If you associate your email address with your Google Account, you will be able to manage all the alerts that you've set up to be delivered to that email address.

9. How do I delete my alerts?

You can delete your alerts by simply clicking on the 'delete alert' link at the bottom of your alert emails. If you're signed in to your Google Account, you'll automatically be taken to the 'Manage your Alerts' page and the alert you deleted will be removed from the list of your alerts. If don't have a Google Account, then you'll be taken to a confirmation page notifying you that the alert has been successfully deleted. Of course, you can also delete alerts directly from the "Manage Your Alerts" page once you've logged in.

If you see neither of these pages, then you might already be logged into a Google Account other than the one on which you are currently receiving alerts. You will need to sign out and then delete your alert again.

10. I've set up lots of Google Alerts, but suddenly I'm getting a message that says I have too many unverified alerts.

You can create up to ten alerts at a time using the Google Alerts home page. Once you confirm your alerts, you can create more. To view and manage all your Google Alerts in one place, you may want to use a Google Account.

11. What is the maximum number of alerts I can create?

You can create up to 1000 alerts. To create more alerts, you can either delete any existing alerts or request alerts to be sent to a different email address. Please remember that you can only have up to 10 unverified Alerts at any given time.

12. Can I subscribe to alerts in multiple languages?

Yes you can. Once you set your language preferences, you can visit the Google Alerts homepage and create alerts in that language. If the Google Alerts homepage appears in English, then chances are that the language you selected is not yet supported. We are continuously working on adding support for additional languages.

13. I'd like to receive Google Alerts in plain text rather than HTML. Can I do that?

Yes. To change the format of your emails from HTML to plain text, you'll need to sign in to the "Manage Your Alerts" page. Please note that Video Alerts require you to receive email in HTML format.

14. Can I change my email address and still get Google Alerts?

Sure. But you'll need to delete your current alerts and re-enter them using your new email address. We recommend that you associate your new email address with your Google Account, so that you can easily manage your Alerts on an ongoing basis via the "Manage Your Alerts" page.

15. Is this just a way to get my email address so you can sell it to spammers?

No. We value your privacy as much as we do our own. We don't like unsolicited email and we won't sell you out to those who send it, or anyone else for that matter. Your email address will never be shared, traded, sold, delivered, revealed, publicized, or marketed in any way, shape, or form. If you'd like to learn more, we encourage you to read our privacy policy.

16. I'm receiving Google News or Web Clips alerts on my desktop, how can I make them stop?

Google Alerts only provide email messages to recipients and does not provide desktop notifications. We suspect that you're using Google Desktop, which has a "Customized Alerts" feature that displays News, Web Clips, and Email alerts on your desktop. For more information, please see Google Desktop Help Center.

17. How can I receive feeds of alerts?

When creating an alert, select the "feed" in the "Deliver to" drop-down menu. Once created, you can subscribe to the alert by clicking the corresponding "Feed" link. This feed is real-time enabled. Developers and feed readers can receive real-time updates by subscribing to the feed using the PubSubHubbub protocol. This allows applications to be notified of new alerts as they become available.

Questions? Comments? Please send your feedback.

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