Overview

• On October 6, a wave of team-specific outlets published near-identical guides with direct links asking readers to add their sites as preferred sources.
• Examples include Amazin’ Avenue, Athletics Nation, Bleed Cubbie Blue, Bluebird Banter, Brew Crew Ball, Bless You Boys, and many other niche sports blogs.
• Google launched Preferred Sources for English searches in the U.S. and India in August after earlier testing in Search Labs.
• When a site is selected, Google says its articles appear more prominently in Top Stories when it has fresh, relevant content for a user’s query.
• Publishers say AI-driven search changes have hurt referral traffic and pitch opt-ins as a win-win for readers and their outlets, though no public impact data has been reported.