Google is pushing a major update to Google Discover: in some cases, the feed will now display AI-generated summaries instead of the original headlines from publishers. What you’ll see first is a short, condensed blurb — often drawn from multiple sources — plus a stack of logos representing those sources. Only after you tap “see more” do you reach the actual headline and article from the original publisher.
This change aims to help users scan news faster: a quick AI summary may help you decide whether you want to read the full story or skip it. Additionally, Discover is expanding what kind of content it shows: besides traditional articles, you may now see posts from social platforms, video shorts, or updates from creators and publishers you followed — a clear move toward making Discover feel more like a combined news + social feed.
But the shift hasn’t sat well with everyone. Critics argue that replacing curated headlines with AI blurbs can distort a story’s nuance, tone, or original framing. A serious investigative report may get reduced to a sensational-sounding snippet; subtle context may vanish. For news outlets, this is troubling — if users get the gist from the summary, they might never click through, leading to fewer page-views and shrinking referral traffic.
Some users who see the new format complain that summaries often feel shallow or misleading, and say it’s harder to tell what content is trustworthy before clicking. Others report that the mix of AI summaries, social-media posts, and algorithmic curation has made their Discover feeds feel chaotic and less useful than before.
For now, the AI-powered Discover feed is rolled out only to a subset of users. But if Google expands it broadly, the way many people consume news could permanently change — and some parts of online publishing may be reshaped around faster, bite-sized summaries, rather than traditional, click-through journalism.
