Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) introduced new personalization features across Google Search, Discover, and Google News, aimed at enhancing user control and publisher engagement.
The update includes an interactive "Preferred Sources" button that publishers can embed on their web pages. When clicked, the button adds the site as a preferred source for individual users, directing traffic back to the publisher’s page where they left off. More than 600,000 unique sources have already been selected by users using the new features.
Publishers can integrate the button by accessing code through Google Search Central documentation. Preferred sources will appear in Top Stories, AI Overviews, and AI Mode, increasing visibility for curated content. The company also announced upcoming customization options for the Discover feed, allowing users to refine their feed by tapping the three-dot menu and specifying topics or links they want to see more or less of in their own words. The feed adjusts immediately and retains user preferences.
Google is also streamlining the customization of daily audio briefings in the Google News app on Android. Users can now curate briefings by selecting specific topics, with clear source attribution and links to full articles. Publishers participating in Google’s news AI pilot program will provide deeper dives into key stories within these audio briefings.
The updates reflect Alphabet’s focus on improving user experience while fostering direct connections between publishers and readers, the company said.
