Lopezosa, C., Giomelakis, D., Pedrosa, L. and Codina, L. (2023), “Google Discover: uses, applications and challenges in the digital journalism of Spain, Brazil and Greece”, Online Information Review, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-10-2022-0574
This paper presents the first academic study conducted on Google Discover’s application in online journalism. The research involved 61 semi-structured interviews with experts from various professional backgrounds in journalism and search engine positioning in Brazil, Spain, and Greece. The data collected led to the identification of five semantic categories, allowing the authors to compare expert perceptions and identify common response patterns. The findings reveal varying degrees of convergence and divergence among the opinions expressed in the three countries regarding Google Discover’s main aspects, such as feed strategies, impact on web traffic, influence on content quality and sensationalism, and the digital media’s responsibility in its use. The authors propose a set of best practices for journalists and digital media teams to enhance their chances of appearing on Google Discover. These practices cover topics, publication aspects, user experience elements, strategic analysis, and diffusion and marketing. This study is significant as it fills the gap in existing research by specifically examining Google Discover, an area that has not been explored before.
