The Google February 2026 Discover core update has finished rolling out, starting on February 5, 2026 and now completing just over 21 days later on February 27, 2026.
This was the first confirmed Google Search update this year, and the first-ever Discover-only update that Google announced. Normally, Google core updates impact both Search and Discover, but this is only impacting content within Google Discover.
U.S. and English. Google said the update currently only impacts English-language users in the U.S. But Google said it will expand to all countries and languages in the coming months.
More details. Google said the Discover core update will improve the “experience in a few key ways,” including:
Showing users more locally relevant content from websites based in their country.
Reducing sensational content and clickbait.
Highlighting more in-depth, original, and timely content from sites with demonstrated expertise in a given area, based on Google’s understanding of a site’s content.
Because the update prioritizes locally relevant content, it may reduce traffic for non-U.S. websites that publish news for a U.S. audience. That impact may lessen or disappear as the update expands globally.
Google also made some tweaks to the Get on Discover help page – so review that page as well.
More details. Google added that many sites demonstrate deep knowledge across a wide range of subjects, and its systems are built to identify expertise on a topic-by-topic basis. As a result, any site can appear in Discover, whether it covers multiple areas or focuses deeply on a single topic. Google shared an 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 content that’s personalized based on people’s creator and source preferences.”
During testing, Google found that “people find the Discover experience more useful and worthwhile with this update.”
Why we care. If you get traffic from Google Discover, you may have noticed changes in that traffic. Again, it should be U.S. English only and only impact your Discover traffic. I will say, there has been a lot of Google Search organic volatility but Google has not confirmed any of those reports.
Google recommends that if you need guidance, Google has “general guidance about core updates applies, as does our Get on Discover help page” in those help documents.