Media Briefing: Without transparency, publishers can't tell if Google's Preferred Sources feature benefits them

"Google launched the feature to give users more control over which news outlets they want to see in search results. Users can select the news sites they want to appear in Google's "Top Stories" in a "From your sources" section to customize their search results and make it easier to find and read content from favored or trusted sources."

"But Google hasn't made any data available to publishers on how many people are clicking on their sites from those sections, how much traffic is coming from there, or how many people have selected their site as a Preferred Source. Google also doesn't provide a "Top Stories" filter in its analytics dashboard to allow publishers to see how much traffic is coming from that section."

"It's difficult to build a strategy around a feature without any available data to work from, six publishing execs told Digiday. It's a familiar story by now: publishers have been griping about the lack of analytics data from AI Overviews and AI Mode, and are unable to differentiate click-throughs and referral traffic from those Google features in its analytics tools."

Google introduced Preferred Sources to let users customize their news sources in search results through a "From your sources" section in "Top Stories." However, publishers cannot access data on clicks, traffic volume, or how many users selected their sites as preferred sources. Google provides no "Top Stories" filter in analytics dashboards, making it impossible for publishers to measure the feature's impact. Six publishing executives report difficulty building strategies without available data. This mirrors ongoing frustrations with AI Overviews and AI Mode analytics gaps. The lack of transparency is compounded by simultaneous Google algorithm updates in December and Discover changes, making it harder to isolate Preferred Sources' specific traffic effects.

Read at Digiday