Google is rolling out new personalization tools across Search, Discover and Google News, including an embeddable Preferred Sources button that publishers can place directly on their websites. Readers who tap the button select a publication as a preferred source, increasing the likelihood that its reporting appears in their Top Stories experience and giving that source more visibility inside AI Mode and AI Overviews.
Why Publishers Care
AI-generated answers have altered the traditional relationship between search queries and website visits, putting more emphasis on direct audiences, brand recognition and source attribution. The Preferred Sources button gives publishers a tool to influence discovery algorithms through explicit reader signals rather than relying only on click-based behavior. The rollout comes as publishers renegotiate the terms on which their content is used to train and ground AI systems.
More Than One Button
Alongside Preferred Sources, Google is adding natural-language controls that let users tell Discover what they want to see more or less of, plus customizable audio briefings inside Google News on Android. Google says the additions aim to hand users more explicit control over algorithmic feeds rather than relying solely on behavioral signals.
Context: Search Reshaped By AI
The changes arrive weeks after Google's Gemma family crossed one billion downloads and as competitors including OpenAI and Perplexity push new agent-driven search experiences. The Preferred Sources button will not solve the drop in referral traffic that many publishers report from AI Overviews, but it gives loyal readers a way to keep trusted brands visible even as generative answers move to the top of the results page.
Reporting based on coverage from Search Engine Journal, Google DeepMind and TechStartups.