Google gives publishers a new way to fight AI-driven traffic losses | TechCrunch
–:–:–:–
🚨 Flash Sale 🚨 Get $100 off your Disrupt 2026 ticket
Save $300 on your Disrupt 2026 ticket: REGISTER NOW.
Close
SearchSubmit
Site Search Toggle
Mega Menu Toggle
Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
Fundraising
Gadgets
Gaming
Government & Policy
Hardware
Layoffs
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
Security
Social
Space
Startups
TikTok
Transportation
Venture
More from TechCrunch
Staff
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
Newsletters
Podcasts
Videos
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Contact Us
Image Credits: Google
Media & Entertainment
Google gives publishers a new way to fight AI-driven traffic losses
Sarah Perez
12:18 PM PDT · August 20, 2026
As AI continues to kill traffic to websites, Google on Thursday threw a bone to those publishers negatively impacted by the change. It’s now allowing readers to push a button on a publisher’s website to indicate it’s a "favorite source" they’d like to see highlighted more often across Google Search, Discover, and Google News.
The tech giant said it’s making this new, interactive "Preferred Sources" button available to online publishers to embed on their own websites.
The launch follows Google’s rollout of Preferred Sources in May to Google’s AI experiences, including AI Mode and AI Overviews. The option was previously available in Top Stories.
The idea is to make it easier for readers to find links from the sites they know and trust when they’re searching for content or interacting with Google’s AI to learn about a topic or read the latest news. As of May’s launch, the company said that people across the web had already selected over 345,000 unique sources through this method.
To add a site as a favorite publisher, you can visit Google’s source preferences page, then search for a publisher by name or website.
Becoming a preferred source can drive more traffic to publishers’ websites, Google said. In earlier studies, it found that people are twice as likely to click through to a preferred source when available. By offering publishers these additional tools, Google is trying to assuage the damage that the rapid growth of AI-powered search features has had on traffic-dependent businesses.
Alongside the new button, Google said that readers will soon be able to customize their Discover feed in Google’s app in their own words. To use this feature, readers will tap any three-dot menu in the feed and then tell Google what topics they’d like to see more or less of, using natural language commands. This helps Google refine the feed in real time.
Image Credits: Google
The search giant is not the only company turning to AI to offer feed-tuning tools powered by AI. In recent months, a number of top social media apps have launched user-controlled algorithms that allow people to fine-tune the content that is recommended to them.
In addition to personalizing the Discover feed, Google says Android users will be able to customize their audio daily briefings in the Google News app, as well.
Topics
AI, Google, Media & Entertainment, Search
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
Sarah Perez
Consumer News Editor
Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software.
You can contact or verify outreach from Sarah by emailing sarahp@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at sarahperez.01 on Signal.
View Bio
October 13 – 15
San Francisco
In less than 48 hours, your chance to save up to $300 on your tickets will end!
REGISTER NOW
Most Popular
Home batteries are suddenly cheap and everywhere. Here’s why.
Tim De Chant
Cursor capitalizes on GitHub frustration, launches rival hosting platform
Lucas Ropek
Etched’s valuation doubles to $21B in a month
Julie Bort
AI automation startup Relay shuts down, staff joins Google’s Chrome team
Lucas Ropek
Stripe will reportedly acquire AI gateway startup OpenRouter for $7B+
Anthony Ha
Anthropic shares more details about how Claude’s new watermarks will work
Anthony Ha
7 desk gadgets that can make your workday better
Aisha Malik
Loading the next article
Error loading the next article
© 2026 TechCrunch Media LLC.