Google is building an Audience Loyalty ecosystem
A common thread among many new Google features is how they enable publishers to build loyal audiences across all Google surfaces.
I’m far from Google’s biggest fan. In fact, I have a well-earned reputation as an outspoken critic. But I believe my criticism comes from a position of fairness and balance.
When Google does something right, I want to highlight that as well. This is one such occasion. I see what Google is trying to do for news and publishing, and I’m almost perfectly aligned with their vision.
Amidst the AI upheaval and the barrage of announcements coming out of Google these last few years, you may have missed a common thread among many of the search giant’s new features.
Let’s take a look at some of the shiny new toys that Google is giving to publishers, and see if you can spot the trend:
1. Preferred Sources
First announced in August 2025, and rolled out globally in April 2026, this mechanism enables users to pick specific publishers that they want to see more of in Google’s results.
When a user then performs a Google search that shows a Top Stories box, and their preferred publisher has a story relevant to this query, the user will see that publisher’s story in the Top Stories box.
Since May 2026, Preferred Sources also spreads across AI Overviews and AI Mode, providing more visibility to a user’s preferred publishers in all search surfaces.
2. Search Profiles
The newest toy in the arsenal, Search Profiles are dedicated profile pages for publishers and creators with sizable followings (more than 100K followers).
Through this profile page, a user can choose to follow the publisher or creator, and are more likely to see their content in the Discover feed.
3. Subscription Linking
With Subscription Linking, a publisher can link their subscription data to their subscribers’ Google accounts.
When linked, a user will see their subscription content more prominently in Google’s search results and the Discover feed in a ‘From your subscriptions’ panel.
This increased visibility of a user’s subscribed content also applies to AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Not Traffic. Loyalty.
The common theme among these new features is obvious: Google is building an audience loyalty ecosystem.
There is no denying the hard truth: Google traffic is harder to come by. While Google Zero is a myth, there is most definitely less traffic to go around.
However, despite the publishing industry’s convulsions, AI didn’t cause the traffic collapse - it merely accelerated it.
Google has been clear about its intent for the better part of two decades. You should not chase clicks. You should not write content purely to acquire traffic. You should not produce cheap journalism to get a few more high-bounce, low-engagement visits on your website.
Over the past twenty years, Google has been replacing that type of cheap content in its search results with direct answers. Sport match information is directly on Google’s SERPs. Basic facts are provided in featured snippets and knowledge panels. Address details are shown in map packs.
None of this is new. The writing has been on the wall for all this time. Generative AI merely enabled Google to put the final nail in churnalism’s coffin. AI summaries make churnalism obsolete.
These new features Google gives us aren’t meant to replace that traffic. None of these toys will give us back those cheap visits.
What they will provide is greater visibility to an already loyal audience. Google is opening up its ecosystem for publishers that already have highly engaged readers.
Features for Engaged Readers
Think about the kind of user that will set you as a preferred source in Top Stories. The kind of user that will click that Follow button on your search profile. The kind of user that will subscribe to your site.
Those are not cheap visits. Those aren’t high-bounce clicks.
Those are users that buy into your product, that want to read your journalism, that want to consume what you publish.
These features are meant for users that are already sold on your output. They already understand and appreciate your value as a publisher.
The path forward is clearer than ever. Don’t chase clicks - chase loyalty. Don’t produce cheap churnalism - produce high quality, original content. Don’t use traffic as your core KPI - focus on engagement and retention.
Do all that, and Google is your ally. It’ll help you retain your loyal readers. It’ll give you the tools to maximise engagement and retention. It’ll show your content to your subscribers everywhere it can.
There is no confusion at all about what publishers need to do to survive, and even thrive, in the era of AI. If you are still unsure, you’re either wilfully ignorant or so entrenched in your ‘traffic-first’ mentality that you probably deserve to lose.
Original Sin
None of this devalues the ‘original sin’, as AG Sulzberger stated it in his excellent speech at the 2026 WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress. AI is built on the greatest theft humankind has ever seen.
But we cannot put the genie back in its bottle. AI is here to stay. We’re going to have to live with it.
And the survival strategy for a post-AI publishing world has never been more obvious.
Beers & SEO with Barry & Steve
Steve and I recorded another episode of our podcast. In this one, Steve shares his wealth of experience and insight on how to optimise your podcast.
A very meta podcast about podcasts. Listen and subscribe here. Also make sure you catch the previous episode, where we talk about AI Crawlers and the value exchange for publishers.
2026 News & Editorial SEO Summit
13, 14, 15 October 2026
The Super Early Bird ticket sale for our 2026 virtual event has now ended, and we’re in the regular Early Bird period until the end of next month. After that the price goes up again.
At the $299 Early Bird price, NESS 2026 is a bargain: Three days of virtual conferencing, fifteen sessions in total, over twenty speakers and panellists, and your ticket also gives you access to all session recordings in perpetuity!
This year we’re expanding beyond SEO for news. We’ll also be tackling AI Search, audience growth, podcasts, newsletters, video optimisation, and so much more.
Miscellanea
Official Google Docs:
Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search
Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console
Google Search’s guidance on using third-party SEO tools, services, and advice
Latest in SEO & AI Search:
Google Zero: Is the News Industry’s Decline Really Google’s Fault? - Buzzstream
What The Future of Google Looks Like - Leadership in SEO
Creating ‘Non-Commodity’ Content That Isn’t Shit - Leadership in SEO
The Death of the Ultimate Guide? - Sparktoro
It Works Until It Doesn’t: AI Content Strategies That Backfire - Lily Ray
How a Search Engine Works - SERPrecon
State of Search Q1 2026 - Datos
World Cup SEO: A last-minute guide - WTF is SEO?
The missing guide to SEO domain migrations - Joost de Valk
Schema, LLMs and the Low Bar for “Evidence” in GEO - Mark Williams-Cook
Do News Publishers That Block AI Crawlers Get Cited Less Often by AI? - Buzzstream
Demystifying Randomness in AI - Graphite
Human content is 8x more likely than AI to rank #1 on Google - SEL
AI Overviews is the most undertracked AI search: 500,000 prompts show why - Peec AI
Interesting Articles:
UK regulator tells Google to let publishers opt out of AI Overviews - Press Gazette
Another AI threat emerges for publishers: the third-party scraper - Digiday
Output down, page views up: Axios shifts from volume to value - Press Gazette
Times ‘fewer, better stories’ strategy leads to run of audience growth - Press Gazette
Report: The Zero-Click Content Shift - Media Voices
Publishers align on answer to LLM question - MediaCat
Google is still sending you traffic. For now. - The Media Stack
From page views to propensity: How the Daily Mail is retooling for a zero-click world - Digiday
Is AI dulling our minds? - The Harvard Gazette
The LLM Fallacy: Misattribution in AI-Assisted Cognitive Workflows - arXiv
Mt stupid Has a Pricing Page - The Inference
That’s it for another edition. As always, thanks for reading and subscribing, and I’ll see you at the next one!
This is great Barry!
I think that Google built these loyalty features so they keep users on THEIR platform, why would you use an RSS news reader if you can do it straight in Google? Building high quality content/news is not viable anymore, why bother creating high quality content if Google will use it to create AI summaries and your site will get nothing in terms of clicks/impressions/revenue? I think that this is a major shift and it's not about adapting and surviving in the AI era, it's about using it at all (from publisher's perspective). I don't think that small/medium publishers will keep producing content, it's just not viable anymore, AI will replace them. There will be no more bloggers sharing their recipes, travel stories, pictures, etc. - it's going to be AI agents doing stuff for real users and AI creating multimedia like images/videos/apps for users to consume. Real content created by humans is going to be very exclusive and rare, like collection cars or like handmade shoes.