Google Launches AI-Powered Personalization Features as Publishers Face 600,000 Source Selections

Google gives publishers a new way to fight AI-driven traffic losses

As AI continues to kill traffic to websites, Google on Thursday threw a bone to those publishers negatively impacted by the change. It's now allowing readers to push a button on a publisher's website to indicate it's a "favorite source" they'd like to see highlighted more often across Google Search, Discover, and Google News. The tech giant said it's making this new, interactive "Preferred Sources" button available to online publishers to embed on their own websites. The launch follows Google's rollout of Preferred Sources in May to Google's AI experiences, including AI Mode and AI Overviews. The option was previously available in Top Stories. The idea is to make it easier for readers to find links from the sites they know and trust when they're searching for content or interacting with Google's AI to learn about a topic or read the latest news. As of May's launch, the company said that people across the web had already selected over 345,000 unique sources through this method. To add a site as a favorite publisher, you can visit Google's source preferences page, then search for a publisher by name or website. Becoming a preferred source can drive more traffic to publishers' websites, Google said. In earlier studies, it found that people are twice as likely to click through to a preferred source when available. By offering publishers these additional tools, Google is trying to assuage the damage that the rapid growth of AI-powered search features has had on traffic-dependent businesses. Alongside the new button, Google said that readers will soon be able to customize their Discover feed in Google's app in their own words. To use this feature, readers will tap any three-dot menu in the feed and then tell Google what topics they'd like to see more or less of, using natural language commands. This helps Google refine the feed in real-time. The search giant is not the only company turning to AI to offer feed-tuning tools powered by AI. In recent months, a number of top social media apps have launched user-controlled algorithms that allow people to fine-tune the content that is recommended to them. In addition to personalizing the Discover feed, Google says Android users will be able to customize their audio daily briefings in the Google News app, as well.

Google Discover is getting an AI chatbot-tuned feed

Google will soon allow you to customize your Discover feed by describing what you want to see. The new feature, rolling out to the Google app in the "coming days," will use AI to automatically tweak your feed and "remember" your preferences for future visits. You'll find the option within the three-dot menu on your Discover feed. As shown in a video shared by Google, tapping the feature will open a chatbot-style interface, where you'll be able to describe your preferences. The chatbot will confirm your choices and lay out the types of content it will prioritize, but you'll also have the option to add more information if it doesn't get it quite right. From there, you can hit "Refresh your feed" for the changes to take effect. This might make it easier to control what you see in your Discover feed, which serves up recommended articles based on your activity across Google's search engine and apps. Aside from Google Discover, several social media apps have added ways to customize your feeds with AI, including YouTube, Instagram, Bluesky, and X. Google announced a couple of other changes as well, including the ability to personalize daily audio briefings in the Google News app on Android. There's also an update to Preferred Sources, a feature that lets you see more of your favorite outlets across Search's "top stories" section, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. With the change, publishers can place an interactive "Preferred Sources" button on their sites, which readers can select to quickly add it to their list without navigating away from the webpage.

Google Will Soon Let You Customize Discover Feed Using AI Prompts

Google announced a set of updates on Thursday to help customize your Search, Discover, and Google News experience. For Search, Google is introducing its own Preferred Sources button that publishers can embed on their site pages. Once you choose your Preferred Sources, Google will prioritize coverage from those publications in Top Stories, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. The feature began rolling out in September, but the process was tedious for both publishers and readers. Now, publishers can embed the Google-provided button, while readers can click it once, confirm their selection, and return to the page they were already browsing. In the Discover feed on the Google app, the company will soon debut an AI prompt box where you can describe the kind of articles you'd like to see more of. The upcoming feature will make customizing the Discover feed as easy as "it is to text a friend," Google says. When available, the prompt box will pop up as you scroll through the feed. You can also tap any three-dot button in a tile and tell "Google the exact topics or links you want to see more (or less) of." The feed will remember your requests, adapt to them immediately, and show content that matches your current interests. A similar update is also coming to audio briefings in the Google News app on Android. You can now choose the topics you'd like to hear in the morning and deep dive into some of the key stories. Google's new customization tools arrive at a time when publishers are losing traffic to AI-powered responses. Users have already selected nearly 600,000 unique sites as Preferred Sources, the company said.

Google now lets you chat to customize Discover, tune News audio briefings

Google is rolling out updates that let you customize Discover and the Google News audio briefing. You can now customize the Google Discover feed via a prompt-based interface. This lets you "tell Google the exact topics or links you want to see more (or less) of, in your words." Google can ask follow-up questions to further tune what is surfaced. Your feed will adjust on the fly, and remember your requests. By letting you refine your tastes in real time, Discover can connect you with content that genuinely matches what you care about right now. Once available, tap the three-dot overflow button or the dedicated card to enter a prompt. Testing started last year, and this is now rolling out in the coming days. Meanwhile, Google News will let you customize its daily audio briefing. This lets you select specific topics across Headlines, Business, Entertainment & lifestyle, Sports, Science & technology, and more. Underneath each category, you can get more granular. For example, the Entertainment category lets you choose from Arts & Design, Movies, Music, Theater, and TV. The final announcement today is for publishers. Google now offers an interactive "Preferred Sources" button that can be embedded into websites. Clicking the button adds the publication as a Preferred Source "and immediately directs [readers] back to where they left off on the publisher's page." This applies to the Top Stories carousel in Search, AI Overviews, and AI Mode.

Google adds new personalization features to Search, Discover and News

Google has announced new personalization features across Google Search, Discover and Google News. The updates include a Preferred Sources button for publishers, new controls for customizing the Discover feed, and options to choose topics for audio news briefings in Google News on Android. Preferred Sources Google is introducing an interactive Preferred Sources button that publishers can embed on their webpages. When readers click the button, the site is added as a Preferred Source on Google, and they are immediately directed back to the page they were viewing on the publisher's website. Content from Preferred Sources can appear in: * Top Stories * AI Overviews * AI Mode Google said users have already selected more than 600,000 unique sources. Publishers can find the code for the Preferred Source button in Google Search Central documentation. Discover feed customization Google is also adding new controls for customizing the Discover feed. In the coming days, users will be able to tap the three-dot menu on items in their feed and tell Google, in their own words, which topics or links they want to see more or less of. Users can specify: * Topics they want to see more of * Topics they want to see less of * Links they want to see more or less of Discover will adjust the feed based on these requests and remember them. The feed can therefore be updated based on the preferences users provide. Google News audio briefings Google is adding customization options for daily audio news briefings in the Google News app on Android. Users can choose specific topics for their briefings, with the briefings providing: * Clear source attribution * Links to full articles * Deeper coverage of key stories from publishers participating in Google's news AI pilot program Availability The Discover customization feature will be available in the Google app in the coming days. Publishers can access the Preferred Sources button code through Google Search Central documentation. The customizable audio briefings are available in the Google News app on Android.