Google Discover adds social posts and creator follows

Google announced significant changes to its Discover feature on September 17, 2025, introducing new content types and personalization options designed to help users track publishers and creators across multiple platforms. The update represents a shift in how the company aggregates web content within its mobile application.

The announcement, made by Layla Amjadi, Senior Director of Product Management for Search, detailed how Discover will begin displaying posts from X and Instagram, alongside YouTube Shorts. According to Google, these content types will appear "in the coming weeks," with additional platforms planned for future integration. The company stated that research participants indicated they "enjoyed seeing a mix of content in Discover, including videos and social posts, in addition to articles."

Google framed the update as a response to user challenges in tracking content across disparate sources. "It's often hard to keep up with all the articles, videos and social posts, especially across many different sources and platforms," the company stated in its announcement. The consolidated feed aims to serve as what Google described as "a more helpful and personalized jumping-off point for exploring the web."

The update introduces a follow mechanism that allows users to subscribe to specific publishers and creators directly within Discover. This feature launched on September 17, 2025, enabling users to preview a publisher or creator's content before committing to follow them. The preview includes articles, YouTube videos, and posts from social channels. Users must sign into their Google Account to access the follow functionality.

Google has previously integrated publisher preferences into its search products, allowing users to select preferred news sources in Top Stories earlier in 2025. The Discover update extends this personalization approach to a broader range of content types and creators beyond traditional news publishers.

The technical implementation aggregates content from multiple platforms into a single feed within the Google app. Users will see posts from social media platforms displayed alongside traditional web articles and video content. Each publisher or creator receives a dedicated space accessible by tapping their name, where their content from various platforms is collected.

Google emphasized that the update maintains its focus on connecting publishers and creators with audiences through Search products. The company stated it will "continue to add even more ways for people to connect directly with the publishers and creators they love in Discover."

The timing of this announcement places it within a broader context of changes to Google's search and discovery features throughout 2025. The company has been adjusting how it surfaces and organizes content as it integrates artificial intelligence capabilities into its core products. The Discover feed serves as a mobile-first entry point to web content, distinct from traditional search queries.

For publishers and content creators, the update introduces new distribution possibilities within Google's ecosystem. Content posted to social platforms like X and Instagram will now potentially reach users through Google Discover, expanding beyond those platforms' native audiences. YouTube Shorts, which compete with TikTok and Instagram Reels, gain another distribution channel through the integration.

The follow feature creates a direct relationship between creators and users within Google's infrastructure. Previously, Discover relied primarily on algorithmic recommendations based on user interests and browsing history. The new system allows explicit user intent to shape content delivery, potentially increasing engagement with specific sources.

Google did not specify which additional platforms would be integrated following the initial rollout of X, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts content. The company's announcement mentioned "more platforms to come" without providing a timeline or platform names.

The announcement included minimal technical specifications about how content would be selected or ranked within the feed. Google did not detail whether followed publishers and creators would appear preferentially compared to algorithmically recommended content, or how the system would balance different content types in the feed.

The update requires users to be signed into a Google Account to access the follow functionality. This authentication requirement enables Google to maintain personalization across devices but limits the feature's availability to logged-in users.

The research cited by Google regarding user preferences for mixed content types in Discover did not include sample sizes, methodologies, or demographic information about participants. The company stated only that "people told us they enjoyed seeing a mix of content in Discover, including videos and social posts, in addition to articles."

Google's announcement positioned Discover as a content hub competing with platform-specific feeds and aggregation services. By pulling content from multiple social platforms into a single interface, Google offers an alternative to visiting each platform individually or using third-party aggregation tools.

The update arrives as publishers and creators navigate an increasingly fragmented digital landscape. Content distribution now typically requires maintaining presences across multiple platforms, each with distinct audiences and content formats. Google's consolidation of these sources within Discover potentially simplifies content consumption for users while creating new considerations for content strategies.

The follow mechanism resembles features found in RSS readers and social media platforms, where users explicitly subscribe to content sources. Google discontinued its Google Reader RSS service in 2013, and the Discover follow feature represents a different approach to aggregating content from chosen sources.

The announcement did not address how Google would handle content moderation across the various platforms integrated into Discover. Each source platform maintains its own moderation policies and practices, and Google did not specify whether it would apply additional filtering or moderation to content surfaced in Discover.

Publishers and creators will need to assess how their content performs within Discover and whether the new distribution channel drives meaningful engagement. The update does not guarantee increased visibility for all content; Google's algorithms will still determine which posts appear in users' feeds alongside followed sources.

The integration of social platform content into Google Discover reflects broader industry trends toward multi-platform content distribution and consumption. Users increasingly expect to access diverse content types through unified interfaces rather than switching between separate applications.

Timeline

• • September 17, 2025: Google announced Discover updates adding X, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts content
• • September 17, 2025: Follow feature for publishers and creators launched in Discover
• • Coming weeks (from September 17, 2025): Phased rollout of social platform content in Discover feeds
• • Future (unspecified): Additional platforms beyond X, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts to be integrated
• • Earlier in 2025: Google added preferred news sources feature to Top Stories
• • 2025: Google renamed Search Generative Experience to AI Overviews
• • May 2024: Google began showing AI-generated summaries in search results

Summary

Who: Google, specifically its Search product team led by Layla Amjadi, Senior Director of Product Management for Search. The update affects users of the Google app, publishers, and content creators across various platforms.

What: Google updated its Discover feature to include posts from X and Instagram, plus YouTube Shorts, alongside traditional web articles. The company introduced a follow mechanism allowing users to subscribe to specific publishers and creators, with preview capabilities before following. Users can access dedicated spaces for each followed source showing their multi-platform content.

When: Google announced the updates on September 17, 2025. The follow feature launched the same day. Social platform content integration will roll out "in the coming weeks" following the announcement, with no specific end date provided.

Where: The changes apply to Google Discover within the Google mobile application. Users must be signed into their Google Account to access the follow functionality. The update aggregates content from multiple platforms including X, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts into a single feed.

Why: Google cited user difficulty in tracking content across multiple sources and platforms as the primary motivation. Research conducted by the company indicated users preferred seeing mixed content types including videos and social posts alongside articles. The update aims to make Discover a more personalized starting point for web content exploration while helping publishers and creators connect with audiences.