Google releases Discover core update – February 2026

Google has released the February 2026 Discover core update, this is a core update specific to how Google surfaces content within Google Discover. Google wrote, “This is a broad update to our systems that surface articles in Discover.”

This is first rolling out to English language users in the US, and will expand it to all countries and languages in the months ahead, Google said.

What is expected. Google said the Discover update will improve the Google Discover “experience in a few key ways,” including:

• Showing users more locally relevant content from websites based in their country 
• Reducing sensational content and clickbait in Discover 
• Showing more in-depth, original, and timely content from websites with expertise in a given area, based on our systems’ understanding of a site’s content

Since this update is aimed at showing 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. The impact may lessen or disappear once the update expands globally, as it rolls out.

More details. Google added that since there are many sites that “demonstrate deep knowledge across a wide range of subjects,” Google’s “systems are designed to identify expertise on a topic-by-topic basis.” There is an equal opportunity to show up in Discover, whether a site has expertise in multiple areas or has a deep focus on a single topic, Google explained.

The example Google provided was “a local news site with a dedicated gardening section could have established expertise in gardening, even though it covers other topics. In contrast, a movie review site that wrote a single article about gardening would likely not.”

Google also added it will continue to “show content that’s personalized based on people’s creator and source preferences.”

Expect fluctuations. With this Discover core update, you should expect fluctuations in traffic from Google Discover. “Some sites might see increases or decreases; many sites may see no change at all,” Google added.

Rollout. Google said it is “releasing this update to English language users in the US, and will expand it to all countries and languages in the months ahead. “

Why we care. If you get traffic from Google Discover, you may notice changes in that traffic in the coming days. Google recommends that if you need guidance, Google has “general guidance about core updates applies, as does our Get on Discover help page” in those help documents.

Finally, Google said that during its testing, it found that “people find the Discover experience more useful and worthwhile with this update.”

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