Google Discover tests a Dive Deeper button that opens an AI overview instead of the publisher article
Image: Search Engine Roundtable
Why it mattersDiscover is one of the last places on Google where a publisher card led directly to the publisher, and adding an AI answer between the tap and the article is the kind of change that shows up in referral traffic before it shows up in any policy document.
Robby Stein, Google's head of Google Discover, announced on X on Friday, September 18 that Google is testing a new "Dive deeper" feature in the Discover feed, according to a Search Engine Roundtable write-up by Barry Schwartz published on the same day. The test starts on video items in Discover and inserts an AI-generated overview between the tap and any publisher link.
What Stein described
Search Engine Roundtable quotes Stein directly: "by tapping 'Dive deeper,' you'll see a short topic overview with prominent links to related stories, community reactions & original reporting." Stein added that Google will "test this experience on videos to start, and experiment with multiple designs in the weeks ahead ... as we iterate to learn what works best." The screenshot Search Engine Roundtable ran shows a Discover card with a short topic overview on the left and links to related stories and community reaction below.
How it changes what a Discover tap does
Until now a Discover card was a direct route: a tap opened the publisher's page. Dive Deeper redirects that tap to an AI overview owned by Google. Related stories still link out to publishers, and Stein's description names "original reporting" among the destinations. Community reactions is the piece worth watching, because pulling a public discussion into the overview page keeps a reader on the surface rather than sending them to the site the discussion is happening on.
Google has not published an official launch date or a rollout plan for the test, and the announcement channel is a public post on X rather than a product page. Search Engine Roundtable notes that the design will change while Google iterates.
Why publishers and answer-engine watchers care
Discover is a large mobile traffic source for consumer publishers, and video items in Discover are a growing share of that mix. A publisher that had been ranking a video card in Discover was, before this test, getting the tap. Under Dive Deeper the tap goes to Google's overview page first, and the publisher becomes a "link to a related story" a reader may or may not follow. Whether that reader still clicks depends on how much of the story the overview already tells them.
For teams tracking generative engine optimization the signal is that Google keeps adding AI answer surfaces at the entry points to third-party content, and Discover is now on that list. It is worth watching the same publisher's Google Analytics Discover-referral segment for a drop that lines up with the rollout window Stein described. Do not read a single week's traffic dip as proof; the design and reach of the test are both changing.
Search Engine Roundtable's Schwartz added that he doubts he likes the feature, because AI-generated context "gives the full context to the user" and reduces the reason to click through.
Source
Source: Search Engine Roundtable
This item was written by an AI system from the linked source. Reveneau is responsible for what it publishes.
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