Google just made the Preferred Source button smoother for publishers.
Before, clicking it pulled readers off your page. Now the flow keeps them on your site. A reader clicks “Add to Preferred Sources,” a small window opens, they hit “Add,” and they land right back where they were reading.
Why this matters:
Preferred Sources let searchers star your publication in the Top Stories section of Google Search. Google then uses that signal to show more of your stories to those readers. Google says starred users are twice as likely to click, so it can drive real traffic from loyal readers.
The feature is growing fast. Google says people have selected more than 600,000 unique sources so far. In May 2026 that number was 200,000, so it has tripled in a few months.
If you publish content, grab the new embed code from Google’s help docs and add the button to your site. Then encourage your readers to sign up.
Credit: Barry Schwartz, Search Engine Land.
