Google Gives Users More Control Over Content Sources and News Experience
This past week, Google revealed several new ways for users to personalize their experience across Google Discover, Google Search, and Google News. These updates focus on giving readers more control over the content they see and how they consume it.
Adding Preferred Sources
Publishers can now embed a button on their pages that allows readers to designate them as a “Preferred Source.” When a user taps this button, the site becomes a preferred source on Google, and the reader is returned to the page they were previously viewing. This feature aims to strengthen the connection between readers and content sources and makes favorite publications easier to find in Top Stories, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. Google reports that over 600,000 unique sources have already been chosen as Preferred Sources by users. Publishers can obtain the code to add this button from the Google Search Central documentation page.
Personalizing Your Discover Feed
Google is making it easier to personalize the Discover feed, which appears when you swipe right from your home screen. This feed currently provides news, videos, sports scores, and other content based on Web & App Activity, location history, search patterns, and followed topics. Soon, users will be able to tap the three-dot menu within the Google app and directly specify topics they want to see more or less of in their Discover feed, allowing for real-time adjustments.
Customizing Your Google News Daily Audio Briefing
For those who prefer to listen to the news, Google is introducing customizable daily audio briefings on the Google News app for Android. Users can now select specific topics and sources, and will receive a link to the full article. Google anticipates that the wide range of publishers participating in their news AI pilot program will provide “deeper dives” into the briefing's top stories. To set up the briefing, open the Google News app (or install it from the Play Store) and tap the “Listen” tab.