What you need to know
- Search Labs is kicking off a U.S.-based test in the main Google app on Android for “Tailor your feed.”
- This feature leans on the user’s prompt to understand and display the type of content they want and don’t want to see.
- Google had a previous Discover feed test earlier this year that would compile a user’s more “interested” content into a podcast-like overview.
While Android 16 focuses on being expressive and vibrant, Google is now reportedly chasing more personalization for the content its main app brings users.
Google’s been spotted launching a new experiment in its app on Android by 9to5Google, which highlights the feature: “Tailor your feed.” This is wrapped in the company’s Search Labs experimental environment. The Labs description for the feature reads, “make your Discover feed truly yours by saying what you want to see.” It seems Google is fueling it with a heavy dose of AI to not only adhere to the user’s request, but to hunt down that specific content.
Once you get down to it, “Tailor your Feed” is pretty receptive about what the user wants to see—and what it doesn’t want to see, too.
There’s a basic text box for the user to type their content preferences for the Google app’s Discover feed. Once done, the fine print says “you’ll be able to review before making changes.” However, Google’s early test shows that it’s planning to offer a few suggestions, such as “stop showing me negative news.” There were other suggestions listed, like “keep me updated on country music,” which alludes to the AI briefly glancing over what’s currently offered in your feed.
Once your prompt is in, “Tailor your feed” opens a chat thread with the AI. It will respond with the type of content you can “expect to see.” Additionally, you can pile on more to really nail your ideal Discover feed. The post by 9to5 adds that you can even set the following content preferences: publishers, creators, formats, or “vibes.”
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While Google is slowly kicking off this experiment for users in the U.S., there was another test for the Discover feed earlier this year.
Google experimented with turning users’ Discover feeds into a short podcast this year with its “Daily Listen” test. The company leveraged its software to understand content already on your Discover feed, as well as your Search behavior, to craft these short podcast-like audio briefs. Once the AI finalized its overview (which took up to a day), it was made available via a block in the Google app.
Google’s Daily Listen test walked users through interesting articles that fit within their preferences and typical interactions with the Discover feed/Search.
It was speculated before that the feature, though in testing, shifted online behavior toward a “zero-click” future. With such a feature, users wouldn’t have to visit websites directly, as the AI would sum everything up via an audio file positioned like a podcast.