Google Adds Preferred Sources to Search, Brings Gemini to Discover for 345,000 Selected Outlets
Updated
Updated · Engadget · Aug 20
Google Adds Preferred Sources to Search, Brings Gemini to Discover for 345,000 Selected Outlets
3 articles · Updated · Engadget · Aug 20
Summary
Google introduced a “Preferred Sources” button that publishers can embed so readers can add a site to Search and return directly to the article they were reading.
Preferred outlets will appear more often across Google Search, including Top Stories, AI Overviews and AI Mode; Google has said users are twice as likely to click sources they selected.
The move comes as publishers complain that AI-generated search features have cut referral traffic, even though Google search still drives significant revenue for many news sites.
Google also said Discover will soon let users reshape their feed by chatting with Gemini in the mobile app, while Android News audio briefings gain topic-based customization with source links.
The updates roll out over the next few days, extending Google’s recent publisher concessions after it said in June that sites could opt out of AI-generated search results.