Google Alerts is a free Google service that emails you when new Google Search results show up for a topic you type. Avos News alerts watch feeds you choose, have AI read each new story against a condition you write in plain words, and email you only the matches, grouping the same story from several outlets into one.
Full disclosure: Avos is our product. Every Google Alerts fact below comes from Google's own Create an alert help page and the options on google.com/alerts, checked on 2026-10-03. Where Google Alerts is the better tool, we say so.
How does Google Alerts work?
You go to Google Alerts, type a topic in the box, and Google emails you whenever it finds new matching results in Google Search. Under "Show options" you can set:
- How often: as it happens, at most once a day, or at most once a week.
- Sources: automatic, or news, blogs, web, video, books, discussions or finance.
- Language and region: any, or a specific one.
- How many: only the best results, or all results.
- Which account gets the alert.
You need a Google account, and you stop an alert by deleting it or with the unsubscribe link at the bottom of an alert email. It is simple, it is free, and it draws on the whole of Google Search.
How do Avos alerts work?
An Avos news alert starts from feeds instead of a search box. Each alert watches 1 to 5 feeds: Google News topics, RSS feeds, curated sources, web search or AI search. Then you choose what counts:
- Every new item from those feeds, or
- Only the stories that meet a condition you write in plain words, such as "a European regulator opens an investigation into a big tech company". AI judges each new story against it and tells you why it matched.
Only new stories count. When several outlets run the same story, you get it once, and rewrites of a story you already received are skipped. You can limit an alert to the outlets you trust, or block the ones you don't, by domain or publisher name. Before you turn it on, you can preview what it would have caught over the last 3 days. Delivery is by email, as it happens, as a daily digest or as a weekly report.
Avos vs Google Alerts at a glance
Checked on 2026-10-03.
| Google Alerts | Avos alerts | |
|---|---|---|
| How matching works | New Google Search results for the topic you type | AI reads each new story and checks it against your plain-language condition, or sends every new item |
| Sources | Google Search, filtered by type: news, blogs, web, video, books, discussions, finance | 1 to 5 feeds per alert: Google News topics, RSS feeds, curated sources, web search, AI search; allow or block outlets by domain or publisher |
| Repeats | Not described in Google's help pages | Only new stories; the same story from several outlets arrives once; rewrites of a story already sent are skipped |
| Frequency | As it happens, at most once a day, or at most once a week | Checks once a day on Starter, every 6 hours on Plus, every hour on Pro; delivered as it happens, daily or weekly |
| Delivery | Email only, with a short reason per matched story | |
| Price | Free | Uses credits. Starter is free with 1 alert; Plus ($5 a month) has 5; Pro ($16 a month) has 20 |
Keywords or conditions: which matching do you need?
This is the real difference. A Google Alert is a saved search: it matches what you typed against new results. That is exactly right when any appearance of the words matters, for example your own name, a rare product name, or an exact phrase.
It gets harder when what you care about is an event rather than a word. "Funding rounds over $50M in climate tech" or "a competitor announces a price cut" can't be expressed as a keyword without catching every article that mentions the company in passing. An Avos alert reads the story and decides whether it describes the thing you asked about, so a passing mention doesn't set it off, and each email says why the story matched.
When is Google Alerts the better choice?
- You want it free and simple. Google Alerts costs nothing and takes a few seconds to set up. Avos alerts use credits, and the free Starter plan includes one alert.
- You want the widest net. Google Alerts covers what Google Search finds, including video, books and discussions. Avos reads the feeds you point it at, and no tool catches every article on the web.
- You need the fastest possible notice. Google Alerts can email you as it happens. Avos checks on a schedule, at best every hour on Pro, so an email can arrive up to one check after a story is published.
- Any mention matters. If you want every result that contains a name or phrase, a keyword match is the right tool.
When is Avos the better choice?
- You are waiting for an event, not a word. Write the condition in plain language and let AI judge each story.
- You want fewer, better emails. New stories only, one email per story even when ten outlets cover it, and no rewrites of what you already got.
- You care which sources count. Pick the feeds, including your own RSS feeds, and allow or block outlets by domain or publisher.
- You also watch markets. The same account can run price alerts on stocks, ETFs, crypto, forex and commodities, and send a daily briefing built from your sources.
Avos is not a page-change watcher. It reads new stories from feeds; it doesn't tell you when a web page's content changes.
FAQ
Is Avos a free Google Alerts alternative?
Partly. Avos Starter is free and includes one news alert, checked once a day. Alerts run on your plan's monthly credits, and more alerts and faster checks come with Plus ($5 a month, 5 alerts every 6 hours) and Pro ($16 a month, 20 alerts every hour). Google Alerts is free.
How fast are Avos alerts compared with Google Alerts?
Google Alerts offers an as-it-happens option. Avos checks for new stories on a schedule set by your plan: once a day on Starter, every 6 hours on Plus and every hour on Pro. If minutes matter, Google Alerts or a dedicated real-time tool is the better fit.
Can Avos send alerts by text message, Slack or webhook?
No. Avos alerts arrive by email only, as it happens, as a daily digest or as a weekly report.
Can I keep Google Alerts and add Avos?
Yes, and the two fit together well. Keep Google Alerts for exact-phrase mentions where every hit matters, and use Avos for the events you would otherwise have to dig out of a noisy keyword alert. See news monitoring with Avos for how alerts are set up.