"This is a broad update to our systems that surface articles in Discover. The update will improve Discover by showing users more locally relevant content from websites based in their country, reducing sensational content and clickbait in Discover, and showing more in-depth, original, and timely content from websites with expertise in a given area."
"Because this update will show users more locally-relevant content from sites based in their country, it may impact the traffic of non-US websites that publish news for a US audience. But at the same time, over time, this update will elevate those websites' content in their locally relevant regions."
"After analyzing the US Top 1000 domains, we get a clearer directional read on the 'based in their country' claim: the international share declines on a normalized, apples-to-apples basis based on our domain bucketing method."
Google completed its February 2026 Discover Core Update on February 27, 2026, after a 3-week rollout beginning February 5. The update represents a broad system change affecting how articles surface in Discover. Key improvements include showing users more locally relevant content from websites based in their country, reducing sensational content and clickbait, and displaying more in-depth, original, and timely content from sites with demonstrated expertise. Non-US publishers may experience reduced US traffic initially, but their content will gain prominence in their respective regions. Analysis from Newzdash confirmed the international content share declined in US Discover feeds following the update.
Read at Search Engine Roundtable
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