{"id":4184,"date":"2025-12-21T19:11:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T18:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clarasoteras.com\/what-will-change-in-google-discover-in-2026-everything-that-was-said-at-google-search-central-live-in-zurich-and-that-you-should-already-be-applying\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T19:38:45","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T18:38:45","slug":"google-discover-2026-google-search-central-live-zurich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clarasoteras.com\/en\/blog\/google-discover-2026-google-search-central-live-zurich\/","title":{"rendered":"What Will Change in Google Discover in 2026? Everything That Was Said at Google Search Central Live in Zurich and That You Should Already Be Applying"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of attending the last talk of the year by Google, the annual closing event usually held in Zurich where the entire team participates: the Google Search Central Live.<\/strong> This session, organized mainly by Martin Splitt<\/strong>, Google Developer Relations, and John Mueller<\/strong>, Search Relations Lead, featured participation from many other members of Google’s search and product teams. Topics included analytics, Google Trends, and new Search Console features, but if you\u2019ve made it this far, you\u2019ll likely be interested in everything they discussed and shared about the algorithm behind Google Discover.<\/strong>

Additionally, I had the pleasure and honor of giving a brief talk on the power of optimizing Google Discover for websites beyond news media, which I titled: \u201cFrom Newsrooms to E-commerce: The Google Discover Strategy You’re Not Using (Yet).\u201d<\/strong> In it, I shared very practical insights on the key points to start optimizing this channel if you\u2019re not a newsroom. I want to once again thank the Google team for the opportunity to share it with the audience in Zurich, and the presentation\u2014which, of course, I also want to share with you\u2014can be found at the end of this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, after reviewing my notes on everything discussed at the Google Search Central Live in Zurich 2025 and winding down from the last presentations and trips of the year, I\u2019m sharing my personal summary of the event with you.<\/strong> I\u2019m completely open to discussing this with you and hearing your opinions on the topic, and I would appreciate it if you find it interesting enough to share with your network of contacts and SEO colleagues.<\/strong> Let\u2019s dive in!<\/p>\n\n\n\r\n

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Clara Soteras, at Google\u2019s Zurich headquarters, during the Google Search Central Live event. Photo: Clara Soteras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since no agenda of topics<\/strong> and speakers had been published for this edition of Google Search Central Live in Zurich, Google surprised us with each of their topics as the day progressed. Obviously, one of the topics that those of us working with media or content were expecting was precisely the updates that the Search team anticipates for Google Discover following Google\u2019s recent announcements about the inclusion of social media posts and more content creator presence in the feed.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google chose to explain the updates to Google Discover from a \u201cTrust and Safety\u201d perspective,<\/strong> making it very clear from the start that, for them, the future and rethinking of how this product should be will rely on the quality of content and the authoritative sources behind the information<\/strong>, aiming to move away from the criticism received for the appearance of clickbait and low-quality content since the company launched it in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of Google Discover, from a Trust and Safety perspective<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The person responsible for explaining the latest updates and clearing doubts on the topic was Andy Almeida<\/strong> from Google\u2019s Trust and Safety team<\/strong>. In his presentation \u201cUncovering Quality on Discover,\u201d<\/strong> he aimed to make very clear the guidelines that Google defends for this channel and opened his talk with: \u201cI work on the trust and safety team for Discover and I’m here to talk to you today about how we think about quality, how we try to encourage quality and discourage policy violations and low quality content.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that the department primarily aims to improve the product by taking into account reviews and feedback from readers and users, and that Discover\u2019s main mission remains the same: \u201cDiscover more of what you love. Stay on top of your interests. Keep up to date on what matters most to you.\u201d<\/strong> Almeida detailed the work carried out by his team to achieve this goal, which they do in three ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Proactive and reactive content reviews, \u201crelying on robust systems to identify and mitigate problematic content,\u201d based on lessons learned from content moderation cases, for example.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Improving the product with new protection features already implemented<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Helping \u201cour publishing partners maintain that compliance.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Precisely, according to Almeida, this last lever \u201cis probably the most important\u201d<\/strong> because it generates the \u201cflywheel,\u201d the virtuous circle where \u201cthe more we help ensure policy compliance, the more we can focus on emerging abuse issues, further refine products,<\/strong> engage with more publishers, optimize moderation from the console, and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Andy Almeida shows the validation cycle for the type of content that appears on Google Discover, sharing that these three levers help shape the quality correction guidelines<\/em> of the Trust and Safety team. Photo: Clara Soteras.
    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAI Slop,\u201d low-quality AI-generated content that circulates unchecked on Google Discover<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Almeida emphasized the need to maintain quality across all Google products and ensure that all content complies with their policies<\/em>. He also added that generative AI is a great opportunity for the entire web, but they don\u2019t want it to become an entry point for more spam, which is why they will be more vigilant than ever to prevent this from happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    During the Google Search Central Live in Zurich, this type of low-quality AI-generated content was precisely dubbed \u201cAI Slop.\u201d Almeida noted that this deteriorates the user experience across the web and that \u201cwhat happens in Discover affects the entire web ecosystem.\u201d<\/strong> \u201cAI Slop is taking over the world,\u201d<\/strong> he said while showing a playful spam mascot. \u201cAlthough it looks cute, it\u2019s the villain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Google has dubbed spam or junk content generated by AI as “AI Slop” and shared it with this playful mascot with the audience in Zurich. Photo: Clara Soteras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAI-generated junk is taking over the world, and Discover is not immune.\u201d The Trust and Policy team is aware of the numerous criticisms received regarding feed content in the press, especially in Europe, and they take, he said, \u201cthis issue very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What to do if we receive a manual penalty in Discover? Google\u2019s advice for appealing and how the quality check works<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    During his talk, he directly appealed to publishers, recalling a scene from the movie Jerry Maguire (1996), in which Tom Cruise asks Cuba Gooding Jr., his only loyal client as an American football player, to give him a chance to prove his worth, with the famous line : \u201cHelp me, help you.\u201d<\/a><\/strong> Almeida said: \u201cI\u2019m American and I grew up in the \u201990s, so I can\u2019t go five minutes without quoting Jerry Maguire<\/em>. So please: Help me help you.<\/strong> If you have penalties and it\u2019s possible to appeal in Search, please do so promptly. Make a good-faith effort to improve and stay compliant with policies. And lastly, be patient. If you are appealing a penalty, you are probably talking to me or one of my colleagues, and we have a lot of work on our plate.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    They also reminded that users, who often complain about the type of content circulating in the feed, can give their feedback through the \u201cReport this\u201d survey, quickly indicating what they don\u2019t like about the content they are seeing, as well as by submitting a feedback form with a free-text explanation. This option \u201callows us to understand their experience with the feed, whether it\u2019s related to the content or the user interface.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Andy Almeida shows two of the options for reporting low-quality content in Discover, either directly on a news item or more generally about the user experience. Photo: Clara Soteras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Next, these reports are reviewed and grouped into problem categories, and according to Almeida, very likely, \u201cthey are then translated into OKRs that lead to truly significant product improvements.\u201d One point Almeida emphasized is that \u201calso, if at least one user reports a piece of content for any reason, it is reviewed within our content moderation workflows quite quickly.\u201d<\/strong>

    Something that hadn\u2019t been openly communicated yet is that outside the United States, they are struggling to get feedback through these forms on Google Discover<\/strong>, and they encouraged a room full of SEO professionals in Zurich, many of whom came from different parts of Europe, to report more because \u201csometimes, issues outside the U.S. get stuck and we don\u2019t have enough reports to prioritize them.\u201d

    It\u2019s important to remember here that the United States is one of the countries with the least Google Discover traffic for publishers<\/strong>, as I mention in the     book “Manual de instrucciones SEO para medios”<\/a>, due to the fact that the market share of the Android operating system (where Discover is integrated on the device) is smaller than iOS<\/strong>, which is not the case in Europe or other countries around the world. The U.S. doesn\u2019t even rank among the top 30 countries for Discover traffic for publishers, according to Chartbeat data (July 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    How to Optimize for Google Discover in 2026? New and Old Ranking Factors<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    We all know the main ranking factors that remain important for Google Discover (two chapters in the book<\/a> cover this, or you can review my presentation on this topic that I gave at the same conference, which you\u2019ll find later in this article), after several years of study, some of which overlap with factors relevant for Search.

    Even so, with recent algorithm changes, we could say that the screws have been tightened, and we need to be much more precise in our content strategy to capture traffic through this channel<\/strong>, whether we are a general news outlet, a local or niche media, or a brand or creator using a blog channel to create content for their audience or potential clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Google made it clear that, based on this, they know that users \u201clook for high-quality, inspiring, and authoritative content,\u201d \u201cniche recommendations generate excitement, especially when well personalized,\u201d<\/strong> and added that \u201cusers recognize low-quality content when they see it, they don\u2019t want to see it<\/strong> and will not use the service if they feel they are not being offered quality content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Some of the guidelines considered by Google\u2019s Trust and Safety team to detect low-quality, harmful, and damaging content for users in Discover. Photo: Clara Soteras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    The Trust and Policy team argued that \u201cthe Search quality team is very good at combating spam; it\u2019s practically in their DNA,\u201d but the problem is that \u201cthe signals we use to identify spam become obsolete if a website doesn\u2019t appear in Search results.\u201d In this way, if Discover isn\u2019t linked to Search results, those signals remain outdated, and the team lacks the tools to assess whether a website is better or worse than it actually is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    That\u2019s why even minimal alignment with Search ranking, Google assures, provides the necessary tools to combat emerging abuses at scale and with high precision<\/strong>. This suggests thinking about and planning content and SEO strategies in Search as well, since continuing to optimize with quality content in Search will help ranking in Discover, as well as avoid volatility and strengthen a sustained presence in the feed, turning us into a \u201ctrusted publisher.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    AI-Generated Content for Google Discover: Yes or No?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    It\u2019s not an easy question to answer, but in Zurich, they gave us some insight into how publishers should approach and use generative AI in their daily content creation. As we always say in SEO, everything \u201cdepends,\u201d and it\u2019s not all black or white. So, below I\u2019ve gathered some of the points mentioned during the event regarding the type of content in Google Discover that deserves to be there and the content that Google will try to avoid showing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What Google does NOT want to see (and will not show) in Google Discover:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • AI-generated content that could put the user at risk for various reasons<\/strong>: for example, financial or medical advice<\/strong> entirely generated by language models, with very low-quality images and produced at scale. \u201cThat is what worries us the most.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Very similar but less harmful content:<\/strong> AI-generated recipes or low-risk fake news produced en masse by these models. This is \u201clighter\u201d content, which some people may consider to lack value.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Images generated in article thumbnails:<\/strong> Google says they are reviewing the use of generative tools for images as well, since this \u201cputs users off\u201d and \u201cis being discouraged.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"
      Examples of poor experiences reported by users of the Google Discover feed<\/em> regarding low-quality and clickbait<\/em> content. Photos: Clara Soteras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      What Google DOES want to see in Google Discover:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • Speaking of AI-generated content, Google considers routine content about weather, sports, or finance\u2014daily publications, something useful<\/strong>\u2014to be interesting and of high quality for things like AI-generated summaries or models that can understa<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Other topics and categories, as long as they are high-quality and articles are honestly attributed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • High-quality, authoritative, niche, and inspiring content is what attracts users, helping them stay up to date with their interests, no matter how specialized. \u201cWe have found that niche recommendations are highly valued, especially when well personalized. And we are making many improvements in personalization over the coming months.\u201d<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Highly specialized content with authoritative sources.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        And to close this section, trying to answer a bit more clearly the question: \u201cCan we create AI-generated content for Google Discover?\u201d<\/strong>, I share this perspective: \u201cWe are completely focused on promoting quality content, whether human-generated, partially AI-generated, or of any other type; we just want it to be good.\u201d<\/strong> So, the conclusions are yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The Focus on UGC and Video in Google Discover<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Almeida clarified that the platform\u2019s latest changes, which now include content from YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or X published by content creators, are part of a strategy to help feed users discover, follow, and engage more with their information sources and creators. The video format can expand publishers\u2019 reach, something media outlets should already be incorporating into their SEO strategies in 2026. This was also highlighted by John Mueller, Google\u2019s Search Relations Lead, in his closing remarks, before the Q&A with Martin Splitt, Google Developer Relations, and the rest of the speakers, adding that the future of Discover will rely on personalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \"\"
        Andy Almeida explaining the updates to Google Discover regarding social feeds<\/em> and content creators. Photo: Clara Soteras.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

        Google Discover for E-commerce as Well: My Talk at the Google Search Central Live in Zurich 2025<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        As I mentioned, I had the pleasure of giving, together with three other speakers\u2014Crystal Carter, Dany Leitner, and Corina Burri\u2014a lightning talk on the opportunities of optimizing Google Discover as a new channel to drive traffic for brands, e-commerce, or even content creators. Titled \u201cFrom Newsrooms to E-commerce: The Google Discover Strategy You’re Not Using (Yet),\u201d I aimed to showcase each of the tools offered as a Swiss Army knife to activate and leverage this channel\u2014a small set of very powerful tools if applied and used correctly. Below is the presentation, and if you have any questions, you can email me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n