Google is making it easier for users to support their favorite publications by introducing a new “Favorite Sources” button that webmasters can add to their websites. “When readers click this button, the site is added as a preferred source on Google and immediately returns them to where they left off on the publisher’s page,” Google explains. After clicking the button, you’ll see the post appear more frequently in Google Search, including Top Stories, AI Previews, and AI Mode.
The button formalizes something that publishers, including Woozad, have been independently adding to their websites for some time. Even with Google’s SEO traffic declining in recent years due to products like AI Overviews and AI Mode, the company’s search engine remains an important source of revenue for many media outlets. At this point, one has to wonder if Google is adding this feature now to try to appease at least some publishers. Facing pressure from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, the company announced in June that it would begin allowing websites to opt out of appearing in AI-generated search results. It will be instructive to know how much this latter measure actually helps publishers, if at all.
Separately, Google will soon begin rolling out an update to its Discover feed, which you can find in the Google app, Chrome, and on Android, to let you manage the content it presents by conversing with the company’s Gemini chatbot. Google will first release the update through its mobile app, where you’ll find Gemini by tapping the three-dot icon next to any story. “Your feed will adjust on the fly and remember your requests,” Google explains. I’m sure some people will find this feature useful, but it mostly seems like an attempt by the company to exploit Gemini’s usage numbers, so it can justify its increasing CapEx spending on AI infrastructure to investors. Google already offers plenty of easy ways to shape your Discover feed if you don’t find its default suggestions compelling.
If you prefer to listen to the news rather than read it, Google also makes it easy to personalize the audio briefings it offers through its News app on Android. “You can now organize your briefings by choosing specific topics, along with clear source attribution and links to full articles, so you can more easily explore what matters most to you,” Google says.
As with any Google update, it may take a few days for the user-facing features the company announced today to roll out to your account. So as always, be patient if you don’t see them right away. If you see the Favorite Sources button on Woozad, be a friend and click it if you like.
