Ask the reader to prefer you on the same page they already trust. That is the cheapest ranking lever shipping this week.
Google said people have selected more than 600,000 unique sources. A new interactive button lets a reader star your domain and stay on the article (Google Blog, Search Engine Land).
The old flow dumped them into Google's preferences tool. The new one does not.
Put The Button On Pages You Already Own
The embed is two lines: publisher.js plus a google-add-preferred-source-btn div.
If your CMS blocks JavaScript, use the deeplink https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=YOUR_DOMAIN.
Eligibility is domain or subdomain only. A /blog path is not eligible. Do not waste the ask on a path Google will reject.
Ship it this week on high-traffic articles, newsletters, and the homepage.
Stay On The Page, Then Ask
Search Engine Land reports the new flow keeps the reader on-site instead of sending them into Google's preferences tool.
That is the product change. The operating change is to stop treating Preferred Sources as a settings page you hope someone finds.
The reader is already on an article they chose. The button is the ask. Leave it off and you wait on a ranking change you do not control.
Raise The Odds Without A Ranking Ticket
Preferred Sources can lift odds in Top Stories, AI Overviews, and AI Mode.
It does not replace crawl, index, or content quality. It is a loyalty signal you can request this week.
Add the embed. Confirm the domain, not a subdirectory, is what Google will accept. Then point newsletters and homepage modules at the same ask.
Do not wait for a ranking ticket. Ship the button.
