Personalization
Last Updated on December 13, 2023
We want to help you discover The New York Times journalism and products that are most interesting to you. To do that, we personalize aspects of your digital experience by offering recommendations that are based on your engagement on our sites and apps, including what you have already read, listened to or viewed. Please note that we value your privacy, and you can review our privacy policy for additional information.
- What do you mean by “personalize” and how do you do it?
We can customize content we present to you by considering our knowledge of your interests within Times sites and apps: for example, what articles you have visited, the newsletters to which you have subscribed, which columnists you follow, which recipes you have saved, and what Games you have played. We believe your engagement with our sites and apps is a powerful indicator of the Times’s journalism and products that are most interesting to you.
Our personalization efforts range from not displaying content that you have already read to using algorithms to generate content recommendations. While we use personalization in several places across our products and features, including on article pages and in email newsletters, it is our mission to put forth a shared news judgment for the most important news of the day. We never personalize the actual text of an article.
- Why do you personalize my digital experience with The New York Times?
We publish hundreds of stories each day, but we know that you sometimes miss stories that you may enjoy. Personalizing your experience allows us to surface content that you may like, keep you up to date with topics you’re interested in, and ultimately help you better understand what’s happening in the world. For example, if you frequently read articles about adventure travel, we are more likely to recommend other articles on that or similar topics.
That said, we may not always get it right, and we are always aiming to improve how we personalize your Times experience. Feel free to contact us if you have any specific feedback.
- What data do you use to personalize content?
To inform our personalized recommendations, we currently use your reading history (i.e., content you have seen in our website, apps, and emails), geographic location (at a granularity ranging from a country to a metro level, which may also include zip code), and your stated interests (e.g., topics you’ve followed).
- How do you recommend stories to me?
Our editorial team is actively involved in the efforts to personalize your New York Times experience. First, editors advise product, engineering, and design teams to ensure that personalization features align with our core editorial mission of helping you understand what’s happening in the world. Second, they help determine what content is eligible for personalization, and how those products incorporate editorial judgment. Finally, they review the data and user feedback on our personalization efforts to ensure that what we do helps further our journalism mission and meet your expectations.
We also use a variety of algorithms that we’ve developed to personalize the promotion of our stories, and we often experiment with new ways to help you discover interesting content. Often, our algorithms note common topics in your reading history and recommend articles about similar topics or articles read by other users with similar reading histories.
- How can I provide feedback on your personalization efforts?
We welcome your feedback and encourage you to contact us here.