Google's Preferred Sources Button Gives Publishers a Boost

Google has introduced a 'Preferred Sources' button for publishers to add to their websites. When clicked, it adds the publisher to a reader's preferred sources on Google.

This is one of three personalization changes announced by Google. The other two are a chatbot for tuning the Discover feed and topic controls for audio news briefings.

Mrsinalini Loew, who runs the Google Search ecosystem team, framed all three as giving readers control 'while helping publishers build stronger, direct connections with their readers'.

The Preferred Sources button allows readers to click on it on a publisher's page and add that site as a preferred source. This is different from an earlier badge introduced by Google, which dropped readers into the source preferences tool instead of returning them to the spot they left.

Publishers can find the embed code in Google's Search Central documentation and install it on their website. However, they need to persuade readers to press the button.

Being a preferred source has benefits for publishers. According to Google, sites chosen as Preferred Sources are more likely to appear in Top Stories. They can also carry a 'preferred' badge inside AI Overviews and AI Mode.