To track a topic, company or person in Feeder, follow a search for it as a feed. Add a Google News search or a Google Alert for the name, and new articles that mention it show up in Feeder. Rules and notifications make sure you see the matches.
Follow a Google News search
This is the quickest way, and it works on every plan.
- Click Add feed.
- Under Web monitoring, choose Google News.
- Type what you want to follow, for example
"Patagonia", and pick a Language. - Click Search, check the preview, then click Follow.
Use quotes for an exact name ("Jane Doe"), OR between names to match any of them, a minus sign to leave a word out (-Chile) and site: for one news site (site:reuters.com).
You can also paste a search address into Add feed, like https://news.google.com/rss/search?q=your+keywords+when:7d. The when:7d part skips stories older than a week. Feeder's Google News source adds it for you.
Add a Google Alert
Google Alerts also watches blogs and the wider web, not only news sites. Create an alert on Google Alerts. In its options, choose As-it-happens for How often and RSS feed for Deliver to, then copy the feed address. In Feeder, click Add feed, choose Google Alerts under Web monitoring, paste the address and click Save. Add Google Alerts to Feeder shows every step.
Follow a Reddit search
To see what people on Reddit say about a name, paste a Reddit search feed into Add feed, with your keywords after q=: https://www.reddit.com/search.rss?q=patagonia&sort=new. Reddit limits how often its feeds can be read, so these feeds can fall behind at times. Reddit RSS feeds has more patterns.
Find sites that cover a topic
The search box at the top of Add feed finds feeds, not single articles. Type a topic like cybersecurity to find sites that cover it. For a person or company, use a Google News search instead.
Keep only the posts that match
Rules look for your keywords in new posts. They need Plus ($7.99 a month billed yearly) or Professional.
- Click Rules in the sidebar, then New rule.
- Under What should happen?, choose Filter posts to hide posts that don't match, or Star posts to star the matches.
- Under Select feeds, pick feeds or folders, or All feeds.
- Under Match posts that, keep Contain and type your keywords. To add a list of names, paste them separated by commas.
- Check the Posts preview, then click Save rule.
Filtering All feeds hides every post that doesn't match, so filter only a few feeds and use Star posts for the rest. Rules apply to new posts only. How keyword matching works in Rules covers phrases, wildcards and exact capitalization.
Get notified about new matches
- Right-click the feed in the sidebar and choose Edit feed.
- On the Settings tab, under Notifications, turn on Desktop, Sound, Mobile or E-mail. E-mail needs Plus.
Feeder doesn't notify you about posts that a Filter posts rule hides, so a filtered feed only notifies you about matches. More in Get notifications about important things.
Watch a web page for changes
For a page with no feed, like a press page or a list of job openings:
- Click Add feed and paste the page's address.
- Choose Create a custom RSS feed for this website.
- Click the repeating item you want to track, such as a headline, then click Save feed.
Each new item on the page becomes a post. See How to follow a website that does not support RSS.
Example: track a company
Say you want every story about the clothing company Patagonia, which shares its name with a region in South America.
- Add a Google News feed for
"Patagonia" -Chile -Argentina. The minus words drop many stories about the region. - In Edit feed, turn on Mobile notifications for it.
- On Plus, add a Star posts rule on All feeds for
Patagonia, so mentions in the sites you already follow get a star too.
| To track | Set up |
|---|---|
| A person or a byline | A Google News feed for the name in quotes, like "Jane Doe", with notifications on |
| Security flaws in software you use | The vendor's security feed, like https://api.msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/rss for Microsoft, with a Filter posts rule for SQL Server |
| A law or a bill | A Google News feed for its full name, like "EU AI Act" |
Common questions
Can Feeder replace Google Alerts?
It works best alongside it. Follow your alerts as feeds, add a Google News search for the same keywords, and read both in one list.
Can I track a list of companies at once?
Yes. Add one Google News feed per company and keep them in a folder, or join a few names with OR. In a rule, paste the whole list separated by commas.
How quickly do new matches show up?
On Free, feeds update every 2 hours by default, and you can set a feed to update as often as every 30 minutes. On Plus, feeds update every 10 minutes by default and as often as every 5 minutes. See How often Feeder checks your feeds.
How do I get notified when a website changes?
Create a custom feed for the page, as described above, and turn on notifications for it.
Still stuck? Email support@feeder.co with what you want to track, and we'll help you set it up.