Google tests adding a Discover Feed to its valuable desktop homepage

Google is experimenting with the inclusion of a Discover Feed on its desktop homepage that shows recommended content alongside the company’s traditional search box. A screenshot from MSPowerUser, which spotted the change, shows a feed that includes news headlines, a weather forecast, sports scores, and stock information for a trio of companies. The search giant previously added the Discover Feed to its US homepage on mobile devices in 2018,

Google spokesperson Lara Levin confirmed the change in a statement given to The Verge, noting that it’s an experiment that’s currently being run in India. Any change to google.com is significant as it continues to be the world’s most visited website.

The search giant has experimented with its desktop homepage before. Last year 9to5Google spotted it testing a row of widget-like cards on its desktop homepage showing a similar mix of news stories, weather forecasts, and stock information. However, it’s unclear how widely the feature was rolled out, and it’s not appearing for me in the UK as of this writing.

As MSPowerUser points out, Google’s experimental interface looks similar to what Microsoft offers on its search engine Bing, which already contains a long list of news stories and other information. I’ll always have a fondness for the simplicity of Google’s traditional interface, but I have to admit I now barely visit the search engine’s homepage after over a decade of being able to search directly from my browser’s address bar. 

Update October 13th, 6:30AM ET: Added attribution to Google statement.