Google adjusted Discover's content selection algorithm for Canadian publishers in mid-April 2026, with visible reshuffling in surface volumes for the regional publisher cohort we monitor. The change favors publishers with strong author E-E-A-T, original first-party imagery, and topical depth.
Canadian publishers with named-author bylines linked to detailed bio pages, articles using original photography (not stock), and topic-cluster sites with strong internal linking. Several Ottawa-region niche publishers we track saw 20-40% Discover surface lift in the 10 days following the change.
AI-generated thin-image articles lost almost entirely. Articles with stock-only imagery saw modest declines. Publishers without consistent author attribution saw the steepest drops.
(1) Add original photography to your top 20 evergreen articles. (2) Build out detailed author bio pages and link every byline to them. (3) Audit your top topic clusters for internal-linking depth — Discover rewards interconnected content.
Discover update propagated April 12-15, 2026, primarily affecting Canadian publishers.
Original imagery + named authors with linked bios + topic-cluster depth gained.
Stock-image-only articles and unattributed content lost surface volume.
20-40% Discover surface volume swings observed across the Ottawa publisher cohort.