Google gives publishers a new way to fight AI-driven traffic losses

Google launched a 'Preferred Sources' button that publishers can embed on a site, letting readers flag a favourite source to be highlighted more across Google Search, Discover and Google News. It is meant to help publishers recover readers and keep Google's AI experiences feeding trustworthy links.

Google rolled out these preferred sources earlier for its AI experiences, where more than 345,000 unique sources had been selected. The new button opens the mechanism to a wider set to site readers.

The button is a tool for publishers that have lost traffic to a AI-driven search and discovery. It is Google's bid to address publishers' fears about being locked out of AI-era attention.