Google tests “Tailor your feed” prompts in Search Labs to customise Discover

Discover is meant to help you find stories you might like, but it can also feel like it makes decisions for you. You tap one story out of curiosity, and then your feed starts pushing the same theme again and again. Google is now testing a new way to fix that. It is a Search Labs experiment called “Tailor your feed.” Instead of relying only on your clicks, it lets you type your preferences in plain language and shapes the feed based on what you say.

This is not the first time Google has offered control in Discover. You can already open the three dot menu on any story and choose options like “Not interested,” ask for less of a topic, or hide a source. The problem is that these tools can feel slow. They work best when you keep repeating the same feedback over time, and that is not how most people use a feed. Tailor your feed aims to make that feedback faster and more specific. You can tell Discover what you want more of, what you want less of, and what kind of content fits your current interests. In simple terms, it turns Discover from “guess what I like” into “here is what I mean.”

How to try it?

You will find it inside Search Labs in the Google app. It may not show up for everyone yet, since it is still in testing. Open the Google app on Android and look for the Labs icon in the top left. Tap it, scroll until you see Tailor your feed, and switch it on. Then return to Discover and refresh the feed by pulling down. If the experiment is available on your account, you should see a prompt box where you can type your request. Google also shows suggestion chips as starting points. These are quick taps that help if you are not sure what to write. The point is to make the first step easy, not perfect.

What can you use it for?

This feature is useful when your feed feels stuck in one direction. You can use it to shift the mix toward a topic you care about right now, or away from something you are done reading about. You can also use it to improve the kind of content you get, like asking for more video posts, explainers, or updates from specific publishers.

The most important change is speed. Earlier, Discover learned slowly from patterns, and those patterns were not always accurate. People click for many reasons. Sometimes it is curiosity. Sometimes it is an accidental tap. Sometimes it is just a headline that caught your eye once. Prompts give you a way to correct the feed without weeks of “training.”

To make this work, you are sharing clearer signals about your interests. That can be helpful, but it also means you should be thoughtful about what you type. If you would not want a preference connected to your account, do not put it into the prompt box.

Why does this matter?

If Google expands this beyond testing, it could change how people experience news and content in Discover. The feed may feel more controlled and less random, which many users will welcome. But it could also become narrower, because people may filter out topics they find stressful or annoying. That would make Discover calmer, but it might also reduce variety.

For now, it is still an experiment. But it is worth watching because it changes the way you talk to Discover. Instead of only reacting to stories one by one, Google is letting users give direct instructions, and that could change how Discover feels for regular users.