Today more than ever the internet is flooded with information, making it challenging to sift through all the junk to find what you're really after. With a seemingly infinite number of news sources, as well as even fake stories being advertised, the internet has turned from being a digital newspaper to more of a flashy Times-Square of stories.
Tools like Google News have become crucial for aggregating news from diverse sources, allowing users to stay informed about what they really care about. Users with similar tastes and interests often organize into Discord servers, an online platform that hosts chatrooms and other communication channels for like-minded teams. Linking Google News and Discord allows for a powerful stream of information, tailoring news stories to be exactly what your server members are curious about.
This comprehensive guide will lead you through the process of setting up a bot that fetches the latest news updates and posts them directly to your Discord server, ensuring you and your community never miss out on important information. This is done most easily with IFTTT, our free automation tool that can also help you connect over 1000 other popular apps and services.
Why build a Google News Bot on Discord?
Discord, while originally designed as a chat platform for gamers, has transformed into a versatile community hub catering to a ton of different interests. Today, it hosts communities ranging from tech enthusiasts to book clubs and everything in between. Users in these servers like to be updated about recent happenings, whether it be politics or updates on new scientific findings.
Additional benefits include:
Real-time updates: Having immediate access to the latest news is invaluable. With a Google News Bot, you can receive news updates instantly, meaning no need to manually check multiple websites or apps.
Customization: The ability to tailor the news feed to specific interests or topics means that your community receives news that is directly relevant to them. Whether your server is focused on technology, politics, or entertainment, the bot can be customized to deliver news that aligns with these interests.
Engagement: News updates are great for spurring lively discussions and interactions among server members. By keeping members informed about current events, the bot encourages them to engage in meaningful conversations, share opinions, and build community around shared interests.
How does IFTTT offer Discord bots?
IFTTT is the most trusted automation system on the market, helping millions of people like you easily set up Discord bots and other helpful tools. The basic idea behind IFTTT is to create Applets that trigger when certain conditions are met.
These Applets are created by IFTTT engineers and the community and can be enabled in just a couple of clicks. With very little technical knowledge, you can get your bot up and running in just a few minutes.
IFTTT also offers automation capabilities with other similar services, including:
Twitter Facebook Slack Dropbox
And thousands more!
Founded in 2010, IFTTT has since been used by over 30 million individuals around the globe to automate both business and smart home tasks. With IFTTT you can connect over 1000 digital tools together to create beautiful automations. Best of all, it's free to start and only takes a couple of minutes to set up.
Keep your eye out for Applet bubbles throughout the article, which can be enabled by clicking on them and following the prompts.
Setting up a Discord Google News bot with IFTTT
To start, we'd recommend checking that you meet the following prerequisites:
You have a Discord account with server permissions to create a bot.
You've visited IFTTT.com and created a free account.
You'll notice right off the bat a bunch of colored tiles, known as Applets. To find a specific Applet, you can search any keyword within our "Explore" tab.
You can either create your own Applet, or browse our library of millions of user-made Applets. Both are foolproof processes built to make sure anyone can get started with IFTTT, no matter their programming background (or lack thereof.) First, let's go over how to install a user-made Applet.
How to Enable an Applet
When you browse our website and find an Applet that looks helpful, say "Send New Articles to Discord Server," you can click on the cube to get started. Enabling Applets requires a free IFTTT account, so make sure to sign up or log in if prompted. Then the steps are as follows:
Make sure the Applet is fit for you. Read the title and description to learn about the process. Additionally, make sure you have an account with all the applications involved or create an account. Then, click the "Connect" bar.
You will then be redirected to log in to those accounts, and grant IFTTT access to certain data. IFTTT uses this data to complete your Applet tasks, and your data is never sold or distributed to any third party, ever.
Once you have you granted IFTTT access, the Applet is set up. You can see more details about what Applets you have enabled in the "My Applets" tab, where you can manage and edit tasks as well.
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How to Build Your Own Applet
For Google News, we have to use an RSS feed to set up an Applet. An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a type of web feed that enables users to quickly access a web page's content without having to browse multiple websites. Instead of checking your favorite social media and news sites for information, an RSS feed can compile all these into one convenient space.
RSS Feeds are generally formatted using XML code, which gives them a consistent look and feel across different digital platforms. This makes them easily recognizable no matter where they appear online. However, for our purposes, we only have to deal with creating the appropriate URL to paste into our Applet builder.
Don't worry, it only takes a few minutes and doesn't require any technical knowledge. For this walkthrough, we'll go over the steps needed to build your own Google News to Discord bot with our Applet builder.
Step 1: Sign up or log in to IFTTT
Visit the IFTTT website and create an account or log in with your existing credentials.
Once logged in, navigate to the dashboard.
Step 2: Connect Discord and Google News
- Search for the Discord service in the IFTTT dashboard.
- Click on the Discord icon and select "Connect" to link your Discord account.
- Grant the necessary permissions for IFTTT to access your Discord server(s). You may need to select which server you want to integrate. Ensure you have admin rights on the server.
Step 3: Create a new Applet
On the IFTTT dashboard, click "Create" in the top-right corner to start a new applet.
You’ll see the “If This Then That” structure.
Step 4: Configure the “If This” trigger
Click on "If This" and search for RSS feed. Click on the service, then "New Feed Item."
Input a Google News RSS feed link, such as this url here.
RSS feed links tell our system what type of data to send to a Discord server. Different links can send different data.
For top stories: https://news.google.com/
A certain topic: For a certain topic, simply visit the topic page, and place /rss in after google.com and before /topics and the identification line. This will convert it into an RSS feed. An example is: https://news.google.com/rss/topics/( identification line)
For a keyword: Use the URL https://news.google.com/rss/search?q=keyword, and replace the "KEYWORD" text with any word of your choosing (in lowercase).
For additional information on configuring URLs for Google News, we highly recommend this article by our friends over at Aakash Web. Complete the trigger setup by specifying any conditions, such as hashtags or filters.
Some services also offer additional conditions that can help level up your Applet beyond what was possible before. These include:
Query: Will gain additional information from Triggers. For example, you can use metrics such as links clicked, lights switched, or blogs posted. This can help you choose when to run an Applet, or to only run it under certain conditions.
Filter Code: This function is great for those with coding ability, looking to add more complex features. Filter Code allows you to input your lines of JavaScript, to add new parameters to the Applet.
Delay: A simple yet very powerful feature, Delay will let you choose an amount of time between the Trigger and Action.
Step 5: Configure the “Then That” action
- Click on "Then That" and search for the Discord service on IFTTT.
- Choose an action event, such as: "Post a message to a channel" (to send a notification to a specific channel).
- Select the Discord server and channel where the message will be sent.
And just like that, you have completed the process and set up your first Instagram to Discord bot with IFTTT.
For even more complex integrations, consider using a webhook with Discord. Our in-depth guide on this process can be found here.
A final word from IFTTT
Creating a Google News Discord bot is an excellent way to streamline communication and keep everyone on the same page. With a bit of technical know-how, you can expand this automation to even greater heights, such as tracking metrics on different keywords or highlighting trends in the news. IFTTT is the best option on the market for easy-to-use automations, but if you need any more help with RSS feeds or setting up an Applet, feel free to visit our help page here.
We hope this article has granted you the knowledge of how to create your own Google News to Discord bot with IFTTT. Remember, IFTTT is free to try, and if you don't like your bot, you can disconnect with no obligations. We want to deliver you the best automation experience possible, so you can take back your precious time.