Google Discover Now Lets You Follow Creators & Publishers
▼ Summary
– Google Discover is introducing a new feature allowing users to follow their favorite publishers and content creators.
– Users who follow specific sources will see more content from those publishers in their Discover feed.
– The platform will also display more social posts from platforms like X, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts.
– A preview of content is provided after clicking follow to help users decide, requiring a signed-in Google account.
– These updates aim to help publishers and creators generate more consistent traffic through increased user engagement.
Google Discover is introducing significant updates designed to enhance how users engage with their preferred publishers and creators. A new follow feature allows individuals to subscribe directly within the platform, ensuring they receive more frequent updates from selected sources. Additionally, Google plans to integrate a wider variety of social media content, including posts from X, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts, directly into user feeds.
This functionality mirrors the preferred source option recently added to Google Search. By choosing to follow specific publications or creators, users can tailor their Discover experience to highlight content that matters most to them. Google emphasizes that this move is about giving people greater control over the material they see, making the feed more relevant and engaging.
Once a user decides to follow an account, Google provides a preview of the type of content they can expect—whether articles, videos, or social posts—helping them make an informed choice. It’s important to note that this personalized feature requires users to be signed into their Google account to function properly.
Beyond traditional articles, Discover will now surface more material from social platforms. The inclusion of YouTube Shorts, Instagram posts, and X updates reflects Google’s effort to diversify the types of media presented. According to the company, user research indicated a strong preference for mixed content formats, including video and social snippets alongside standard articles.
For content creators and publishers, these changes represent a valuable opportunity. Google Discover has already proven to be a powerful driver of web traffic, and these enhancements could lead to more consistent and qualified visitor streams. Encouraging audiences to follow your channel and interact with your content may help strengthen visibility and engagement over time.
Visual examples, such as previews of YouTube Shorts embedded in Discover, illustrate how these integrations appear in practice, offering a clearer sense of the updated user experience.
(Source: Search Engine Land)
