Overview

• On October 6, several niche sports blogs published step-by-step posts with direct links urging readers to add their sites as a Source preference.
• Google introduced Preferred Sources in August in the U.S. and India, allowing users to select favored outlets.
• When users choose preferred outlets, those sites’ fresh, relevant articles are more likely to appear prominently in Top Stories and in a From Your Sources section.
• Publishers present the opt-in as a way to counter AI-driven changes to search and to support team-specific coverage for fans.
• The campaigns emphasize convenience and loyalty benefits, but participating outlets have not reported conclusive traffic or ranking impacts from opt-ins.