One button could decide whether you'll still see a certain site on Google Search going forward. Google has announced a new button called "Preferred Sources" that site owners can embed directly on their pages. According to Google, once a reader clicks the button, that site gets logged as a preferred source, and the system will bring the user right back to wherever they left off reading.
The effect shows up in how often results get surfaced. Google says sites marked as Preferred Sources will appear more frequently in Top Stories, AI Overviews, and AI Mode. In other words, the makeshift subscription workarounds that some outlets have been cobbling together on their own are now getting officially absorbed into a native Google feature.
Engadget's coverage points out an interesting bit of timing here: traffic from Google Search has been declining in recent years thanks to products like AI Overviews and AI Mode, yet search traffic remains a critical revenue source for many publishers. Back in June, Google—under pressure from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority—announced it would let sites opt out of AI-generated search results. Whether the Preferred Sources button will actually help publishers claw back traffic is something Google isn't promising; it's only saying the feature will roll out gradually.
Meanwhile, the Discover feed is getting more "responsive" too. This update will first launch on the mobile Google App, where users can tap the three-dot menu next to any news item to bring up the Gemini chatbot and tell the system, in plain conversation, what kind of content they want to see. Google says the feed will adjust in real time and remember users' requests.
For those who prefer listening to their news, the audio briefing feature in the Google News App on Android is also getting an upgrade—letting users pick specific topics and sources, complete with clear source attribution and links to the original articles for anyone who wants to read the full piece.
Google notes that these features may take a few days to roll out to all users, so if you don't see them yet, that doesn't mean they're not live—just hang tight.
