Google Gives Publishers a 'Preferred Sources' Button to Fight AI-Driven Traffic Losses

Google is empowering publishers to combat a decline in referral traffic from AI-driven search by introducing a "Preferred Sources" button. This button, which can be embedded on a publisher's website, allows readers to favor their site across Search, Discover, and Google News. The aim is to make it easier for readers to identify and trust the sources they are familiar with when they search for information or use Google's AI to learn about topics or read the latest news.

Since its launch in May, the Preferred Sources feature has already been utilized by over 345,000 unique sources worldwide. Google reports that becoming a preferred source can significantly boost a publisher's website traffic, with studies showing that people are twice as likely to click through to a source when it is marked as preferred.

By offering this additional tool, Google seeks to mitigate the impact of the rapid growth of AI-powered search features on traffic-dependent businesses. Alongside the new button, Google is also planning to allow readers to customize their Discover feed within the Google app. Users will be able to tap a three-dot menu in the feed and use natural language commands to specify their preferences, indicating whether they want to see more or less of certain topics. This feature will help Google refine the Discover feed in real-time, based on user input.