Google’s February 2026 Discover Core Update: What’s New
▼ Summary
– Google has released a core update for Google Discover aimed at improving how it surfaces articles.
– The update prioritizes locally relevant content, reduces sensational clickbait, and favors in-depth, expert content.
– It is initially rolling out to English users in the U.S. before expanding globally in the coming months.
– Websites, especially non-U.S. news sites targeting a U.S. audience, may see traffic fluctuations from Discover.
– Google’s systems assess expertise on a topic-by-topic basis, giving equal opportunity to both broad and narrowly focused sites.
Google has introduced a significant new core update specifically for its Discover feed in February 2026. This system-wide change is designed to refine how articles are selected and presented to users. Initially launching for English-language audiences in the United States, the update will gradually expand to all global regions and languages over the following months.
The primary goal is to enhance the overall user experience by making several key improvements. The update will prioritize showing more locally relevant content from websites based in a user’s own country. It also aims to reduce the prevalence of sensationalized headlines and clickbait within the feed. Furthermore, the systems will better identify and surface in-depth, original, and timely content from sources that demonstrate genuine expertise on specific topics.
This focus on local relevance could temporarily affect traffic for international websites that target audiences in the U.S. with their news coverage. The impact may shift as the update rolls out worldwide, potentially lessening for those global publishers.
Google emphasized that its algorithms assess expertise on a topic-by-topic basis. A website with broad knowledge across many subjects has the same opportunity to appear in Discover as a site deeply focused on a single niche. For instance, a regional newspaper with a dedicated gardening column could be recognized as an expert source for gardening advice, even though it covers various other news. Conversely, a film review site that publishes one article about plants would likely not gain that same recognition for gardening content.
The company also noted that personalization remains a core component. The feed will continue to reflect individual user preferences for specific creators and publishers.
Website owners should anticipate possible fluctuations in their Discover referral traffic. Some may see increases, others decreases, and many might observe no change at all. This variability is typical during a broad core update.
For those seeking guidance, Google points to its existing documentation on core updates and the dedicated “Get on Discover” help page. The company’s internal testing indicated that users found the Discover feed more useful and valuable following these changes.
(Source: Search Engine Land)
