On February 5, 2026, Google started a major update for the Google Discovery Feed. This update changes the kind of content you see on your mobile device, focusing less on sensational global stories and more on local news, in-depth coverage, and special insights.
Here’s why your feed now shows more local news after the February 2026 update.
- “Local first approach (Country-specific news)”
Google now prioritizes content from publishers in your country or region.
- This means that if you are in the US, you will see more news from local or regional sources rather than international or viral stories from elsewhere.
- The goal is to make the Discover feed more helpful and relevant to your daily life and local area.
- Reduction of Clickbait and Sensationalism
Google is working to show fewer sensational and misleading headlines, often called clickbait, that are just meant to grab your attention.
- This means content with shocking headlines, exaggerated claims, or false information will appear less often.
- What gets promoted: articles that are honest, informative, well-structured, in-depth, or original.
3. Focus on Topical Expertise
Rather than only looking at a website’s overall reputation, Google now does a better job of judging expertise for each topic.
- This means a local news outlet with a strong section on a specific topic, like local politics or sports, can now rank higher than a big national site for that subject.
4. Originality And In-Depth Reporting
Google now favours original reporting, detailed analysis, and timely articles over simply repeating existing news.
Summary Of The Shift
With the February 2026 update, Discover is now seen as a trust engine instead of just a way to drive traffic. If your feed seems more local, it’s because Google wants to connect you with news that matters in your area and cut down on sensational stories.
Note: the update first launched for English-speaking users in the US and will expand worldwide in the coming weeks and months.
Google has launched the February 2026 Discover Core update. This update aims to change how content appears in Google Discover.
This is a broad update to our systems that surface articles in Discover that Google wrote.
This update is starting with English-speaking users in the US and will roll out to other countries and languages over the next few months. Google said the rollout should take about two weeks to finish.
What to expect? Google said the Discover core update will improve the experience in several important ways, such as:
- Users will see more relevant content from websites based in their own country.
- There will be less sensational material and fewer clickbait articles.
- Google will highlight more in-depth, original, and timely content from sites that exhibit expertise in a specific area, based on how Google understands the site’s content.
Since the update prioritizes local content, non-US websites that publish news for US readers might see lower traffic. This effect could decrease or go away as the update rolls out worldwide.
More details: Google said that many sites demonstrate strong knowledge across different subjects, and its systems are designed to spot expertise in each topic. This means any site can show up in Discover, whether it covers many topics or just one. Google gave this example:
- 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 said it will continue to show personalized content based on people’s creator and source preferences.
During the testing, Google found that people find the discover experience more useful and worthwhile with this update.
Be prepared for changes in your Google Discover traffic as this core update rolls out.
- Some sites might see increases or decreases; many sites may see no change at all, Google said.
Roll out. Google said it is releasing this update to English language users in the US and will expand to all countries and languages in the months ahead.
Why this matters: If your site gets traffic from Google Discover, you might see changes soon. For advice, Google suggests checking out its General Core Update Guidance and the Get On Discover Help page.
