A custom news feed is a stream of updates filtered to a topic you choose. Instead of scrolling through everything, you only see what matters to you.
AI makes building one much easier than it used to be. You describe what you want to track in plain English, and the AI does the searching for you on a schedule.
Why a Generic News Feed Does Not Work
Most news apps show you what their algorithm thinks you want. That is not the same as what you actually need.
Say you run a small online shop and want to track price changes in your product niche. A general tech or business feed will not catch that. You would need to check dozens of websites yourself, every single day.
That is where a custom feed built around your specific topic saves real time.
The old way vs. the AI way
The old way looked like this:
- Bookmark 10-15 websites
- Check them every morning
- Miss things on days you forget
- Spend 30-45 minutes reading stuff that is only half-relevant
The AI way looks like this:
- Describe your topic once, in plain words
- Pick a schedule (daily, weekly, monthly)
- Get a summarised, sourced report in your inbox
You do not need to know how to code or set anything technical up.
What a Custom AI News Feed Actually Covers
A good AI research assistant can track almost any topic you can describe. Here are some real examples:
- Industry news: "New regulations in the UK food packaging industry"
- Competitor activity: "Product launches or price changes from [Brand X]"
- Job market signals: "Remote marketing roles posted at SaaS startups this week"
- Research topics: "New studies published on sleep and teenage mental health"
- Price tracking: "Wholesale price movements for cotton fabric in Europe"
If you can write a sentence about what you care about, an AI assistant can search for it.
How to Set Up Your Custom News Feed
Here is a concrete example prompt you could copy and paste into a tool like AIDular:
Track: Any news about electric cargo bike regulations or new model launches in the UK and EU. Send me a weekly summary with sources.
That is all you need. No filters, no RSS feeds (a way to subscribe to website updates), no spreadsheets.
AIDular runs on a schedule you pick. It searches the web, pulls together the relevant results, and emails you a clean report with links so you can read the originals if you want. The Lite plan is free.
What Makes This Different From a Google Alert
Google Alerts sends you raw links whenever it finds a keyword match. You still have to click, read, and sort through the results yourself.
An AI feed reads the results for you. It summarises what is new, filters out the noise, and presents a short briefing. You get the key points without opening ten tabs.
For a quick one-word keyword, Google Alerts works fine. For a specific, nuanced topic with context, an AI assistant does a much better job.
Who Gets the Most Out of a Custom AI Feed
You do not need to be a researcher or a business owner. A custom feed is useful for anyone who:
- Wants to follow a niche hobby or interest closely
- Needs to keep up with one fast-moving industry
- Is job hunting and wants to spot new postings fast
- Studies a topic and wants to catch new information
- Runs a side project and needs to watch a small market
If you check any website more than twice a week to see if something has changed, a scheduled AI feed would save you that time.
Try It Free
You can set up your first custom news feed at aidular.com in a few minutes. The Lite plan is free, no credit card needed. Describe your topic, pick your schedule, and let it run.