At the commencement of this month, Google unveiled its inaugural core update of 2026, designated as the February 2026 Discover core update, primarily aimed at enhancing the Google Discover platform.
Announcement of February 2026 Discover Core Update
This significant update is set to unfold over the course of approximately two weeks, initially targeting English-speaking users in the United States, with plans for a subsequent global rollout encompassing all languages and regions.
According to Google’s official statement, “This is a comprehensive update to our systems designed to elevate articles in Discover.”
The update will notably influence how non-US publishers are featured within the US, taking a stand against clickbait or sensationalist content, while prioritizing more in-depth, original, and timely narratives, as highlighted by Google.
Implications of the Update
Further elaborating on its ramifications, Google indicated that this update aims to enhance Discover’s ability to curate content that is more locally pertinent to users from websites within their respective nations.
In addition, it seeks to promote more thorough, original, and timely contributions from sites possessing demonstrated expertise in specific areas, thereby refining the system’s comprehension of each site’s content.
Owing to this update, users will encounter an increased volume of locally relevant information from sites based in their countries.
Moreover, this change may affect traffic to non-US websites that cater to a US audience. As anticipated, over time, this update is expected to elevate the prominence of such websites within their localized markets.
Interestingly, it remains uncertain whether Google has previously announced an update specifically tailored to Discover; however, it is clear that standard core updates invariably influence Google Discover.
This particular announcement, focusing solely on the core update impacting only Google Discover, has indeed led to a notable uptick in discussions regarding visibility alterations in Google Discover, particularly in the past few days.
One user remarked, expressing concern that it seems as though Google is ‘refining’ the search engine results pages (SERPs) by presenting more low-intent or Discover-oriented traffic that fails to convert.
Another user lamented, stating, “I remain between 90-95% down, completely eliminated from search, images, news, and Discover. After years of effort, my site was obliterated overnight, despite previously being visible in News, just like on Discover.”
Yet another commentator shared, “Without intending to sound negative, my site has begun reappearing on Discover and has reached the first page of Google News… However, since February 2nd, I have lost nearly all traffic from Discover. It is indeed disheartening.”
Source link: Trak.in.
