Google Discover.

Google Discover is a personalised content feed in the Google app and on Google's home page on mobile devices that suggests articles, videos and news matching a person's interests without them searching for anything. Websites can gain visitors there if their content is current, interesting and accompanied by large images.

Google Discover — Explained in Detail

Google Discover works differently from classic search. There is no search query; Google suggests content it assumes will interest a person. The basis is activity in the Google account, such as previous searches, websites visited and stated interests. The feed appears in the Google app on Android and iOS and when opening a new Google home page on a smartphone.

For websites, Discover is an additional source of visitors that appears as a separate report in Google Search Console as soon as a website reaches a certain minimum number of impressions. Strong spikes are typical of Discover: an article can bring a great many visitors one day and almost none the next. Discover is therefore hard to plan and is not suitable as the only strategy.

Google names a few requirements: the content must be indexed and comply with Discover's content policies, titles should describe the content rather than rely on clickbait, and large, high-quality images at least 1,200 pixels wide increase the chance of a prominent display. For this, the website must allow large image previews, for example via the robots directive max-image-preview:large. Newsworthy content, guides on current questions and topics of broad interest appear more often.

For most Swiss SMEs, Discover is a side effect, not a goal. If you run a magazine or blog with regular, well-illustrated posts, you can gain reach there. For a trade business's service page, Discover hardly plays a role, because such a page is not suggested as news.

Discover and classic search compared

In search, Google responds to a specific question; in Discover, Google makes proactive suggestions. Search visitors have a clear intent and therefore often convert better. Discover visitors tend to be curious and read, but leave the page more often without taking further action. Visitor numbers from Discover fluctuate strongly; those from search are usually more stable.

Both channels benefit from the same fundamentals: content with real added value, clear titles, a fast mobile page and trust in the source in the sense of E-E-A-T.

Example: an agency's magazine

A consultancy publishes a well-illustrated article on what a new regulation concretely means for SMEs, shortly after it was announced. In the following days, the Discover report in Search Console shows considerably more impressions than for normal posts; after a week the effect has disappeared, while the article continues to bring a steady flow of visitors from search.

The lesson: Discover rewards topicality, search rewards durability. How we plan magazine posts that work in both channels is described by our content marketing agency; the technical requirements are checked in the website audit.

Google Search Console

Frequently Asked Questions About Google Discover

There is no registration. Content must be indexed, comply with the policies and be interesting to a broader audience. Large images (at least 1,200 pixels wide), allowing large image previews and descriptive titles without clickbait increase the chances.

In Google Search Console under 'Performance', in the 'Discover' report. It only appears once the website has reached a certain minimum number of Discover impressions.

For companies with a regular magazine or guide content, Discover can bring additional reach. For pure service pages it hardly plays a role. Because of the strong fluctuations, Discover is unsuitable as the only strategy.

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