Google's 'Dive Deeper' Button Sparks Concerns Over Publisher Traffic
Google has begun testing a new feature in its Discover news feed called the 'Dive deeper' button, which opens a short machine-written topic overview with links to related stories and original reporting. The test started on September 18, 2026, and is currently limited to video content, according to Robby Stein, vice president of product for Google Search.
The button appears as a pill-shaped icon at the bottom of the Discover card, below the summary and above the action icons. When tapped, it opens an overview with links to related stories, community reactions, and original reporting from various news sources. The design is intended to make exploring topics and discovering related web content easier in Discover.
However, some publishers are concerned that users will read the summary and stop there instead of tapping through to the article. This could potentially lead to a decrease in traffic for news websites, even though their reporting is what the summary is built from. Google plans to experiment with multiple designs in the weeks ahead to learn what works best.
According to Damien Andell, co-founder of 1492.vision, the 'Dive deeper' button will be enabled on YouTube AIO videos and AI Summary articles. The button can appear either after a user taps 'See more' on a Discover AI Summary card or inline on the card itself.