Googles February 2026 Discover Core Update to Focus on Local Content Reduce Clickbait

On Thursday, Google launched its first core update of 2026 with a targeted refresh for the Discover feed. A new February 2026 Discover core update promises to make significant changes in what millions see when they open the personalised content carousel on Google app and Android devices. Tech giant based in Mountain View, said it will now focus on local content and “requisites detailed information and original content.” Also in terms of rankings will also be timeliness and topic-based expertise, as well as topics-related expertise.

Google’s February 2026 Discover Core Update: Details

The tech giant said in a support page that the new changes are now being implemented in the Discover feed to English language users in US, which is currently available for download on its website. The same changes will be applied globally in the next few months, with . Google has been testing these algorithm changes, and said users “find the Discover experience more useful and worth it with this new update.” – ’.

Three main pillars are the core adjustments, and they are about three main ones. First, the system has favored locally relevant material from sites that are local to user’s country. Second, Google is reducing sensational content and clickbait. This means users will now see more content and news articles from magazines in their home country that do not rely on sensationalism or use misleading headlines.

The update also provides detailed, original and timely articles from websites with a good history of the subject’s “third” (the updated) on its own. Topic by topic is important for expertise, and a subject must be evaluated on the basis of expertise. If you have a good gardening section, if it’s not really about everything else that is deeply in the local news outlet, there can be very high on this list. A website with one-off articles on a subject, by contrast, is unlikely to receive the same boost even though it has higher overall authority.

Assuming all core updates are made, this change may cause Discover traffic to fluctuate. Google said ‘Some sites may see increases or decreases; many sites will see no change at all.

Under the hood, it has not provided specific metrics on expected traffic impact or detailed technical changes. The company just says that the update is a better overall quality in Discover, it simply states. When rollout progresses, the effects will likely be revealed over the next weeks with tracking tools such as Google Search Console.