Google Launches Preferred Sources Button to Help Publishers Recover AI-Eroded Traffic
Google is giving online publishers a new tool to fight back against AI-driven traffic losses. The company now allows publishers to embed an interactive Preferred Sources button on their websites, letting readers signal that a site is a favorite source they want to see highlighted more often across Google Search, Discover, and Google News. The feature expands on Google's earlier rollout of Preferred Sources in May, which brought the option to AI Mode, AI Overviews, and Top Stories.
Readers can also add favorite publishers by visiting Google's source preferences page and searching for a publisher by name or website. Google says the feature delivers real results, noting that earlier studies show people are twice as likely to click through to a preferred source when it is available. Since the May launch, users across the web have already selected more than 345,000 unique sources through the feature.
Alongside the new button, Google says readers will soon be able to customize their Discover feed using natural language commands, tapping a three-dot menu to tell Google what topics they want to see more or less of. Android users will also gain the ability to personalize audio daily briefings in the Google News app. The moves come as Google tries to soften the damage that AI-powered search features have inflicted on traffic-dependent publishers, mirroring similar user-controlled algorithm tuning tools rolling out across major social media apps.