Google Discover now less aligned with search rankings

Google Discover is now less tied to Google Search rankings, Andy Almeida from Google’s Trust and Safety team said yesterday at the Google Search Central Live event in Zurich.

A slide he shared shows how existing systems help the Google Discover team solve problems. The slide says:

• “Minimal alignment to search ranking gives us the tools we need to combat emerging abuse.”

What this means. This slide suggests Google Discover no longer relies as closely on Google’s search systems to fight abuse as it once did.

I asked Almeida at the event what this means. He explained that Google Discover now aims to surface lesser-known, less-established, and smaller publishers in its feed. So even if Google Search doesn’t rank these publishers, Google Discover may still highlight them. It does this by relying less on Google Search ranking and more on its own systems.

The spam problem. As I mentioned, Google Discover has a big AI spam problem. New sites on expired or throwaway domains keep finding loopholes that let their spammy content surface in Discover – an issue that doesn’t appear as often in Google Search.

• In 2019, Google said its core ranking systems impact Google Discover, and that a core update can reduce a site’s visibility there. This new direction seems like a step back from that position.

Why we care. As we’ve said, Google is working hard to fix the spam issues in Google Discover. Striking the right balance – giving new or lesser-known sites a chance to perform while preventing spam – is tough. Google is working on that now and hopes to find a solid solution.

It also shows Google wants to reward smaller publishers who cover niche topics. That’s good news for newer and emerging publishers, as long as Google can solve the Discover spam problem.