Google Adds Preferred Sources Button for Publishers
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- Google is making an interactive “Preferred Sources” button available to online publishers to embed on their own websites, letting readers designate trusted sources.
- Preferred Sources selections can affect visibility across Google Search, Discover and Google News, and Google says people are twice as likely to click through to a preferred source when available.
- Google said more than 345,000 unique sources had already been selected through the feature as of its May launch, which covered AI Mode, AI Overviews and Top Stories.
- Discover will soon let readers use natural-language commands to request more or less of specific topics, with changes made through the feed’s three-dot menu.
- Google News will let Android users customize their daily audio briefings as part of the same expansion of user-controlled feed personalization.
Why it matters: Publishers gain a new way to seek visibility as Google’s AI search features reshape traffic, but the feature still depends on readers selecting them. Google says links from preferred sources are twice as likely to receive clicks when available, without promising a traffic recovery.
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