DPR Update How to add DPReview as a Preferred Source on Google – and why it matters

[Mathew Anderson]

For the past couple of weeks, many of you have noticed a banner at the top of the page that says, "Add as a preferred source on Google."

There was a time when you could search Google for whatever you were looking for and get a clear list of links to authoritative sources. But changes to Google search in recent months have dramatically impacted how news, reviews and expert sources like DPReview appear in search results, making it much more difficult to find the expert information you're looking for. As a result, DPReview, along with industry-leading sites like Wired and The Verge, is asking our readers to proactively add us as a "preferred source" on Google.

Please read Dale Baskin's article on why this is important. Thank you, community.

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DPReview Community Manager

 

[Sean Nelson]

I use Firefox and DuckDuckGo. The latter has an option (by clicking the "gear" icon on the search results page) to turn off AI generated summaries.

 

[KPM2]

Hello Mathew Anderson

This is a great article by Dale Baskin. I was wondering why you asked us to add DPReview as a Preferred Source on Google. Now I know why.

Just for fun, I just entered the following searches into Google:

my picture is too dark

my picture is too dark. Is it underexposed?

my RAW picture is too dark. Is it underexposed?

Okay...it's not about the AI-answers I got (you can see this when you try it out yourself). The only interesting thing was that the search results first showed sponsored results, like Reddit. You're hard to find. Google is becoming increasingly biased in its searches. If I were you, I would try starting a thread with this title (my picture is too dark. Is it underexposed?) in, for example, the OpenTalk forum. And then the Google search with this question should also point you to your site. If you don't appear in the search results even then...

BTW: I initially liked to pronounce AI as: animal intelligens

Now I would sometimes call it 'biased' intelligence.

What I mean is this: without the addition : is it underexposed? , I get a different answer from the AI than with my biased question: is it underexposed?

and... in addition, the AI often answers the same question in a different way the next time, and the content may even be different.

best regards KPM2

 

[FavaJon]

I use Firefox and DuckDuckGo. The latter has an option (by clicking the "gear" icon on the search results page) to turn off AI generated summaries.

Absolutely necessary! Thank you Sean.

 

[Dale Baskin]

This is one of the really frustrating things about Google's AI summaries. I've done some experiments where I searched for exact titles of articles from DPReview, or exact titles of forum threads, and the results are all over the place.

Sometimes, the DPReview results show up fairly prominently. Often, you get an AI summary that may or may not have any useful information to answer your question, followed by a bunch of sponsored links and Reddit posts that are (sometimes) relevant. It's not predictable, and I suspect it depends on the exact search terms and how you phrase them.

What's really annoying is doing a search and discovering that Google's AI answer is almost exactly word-for-word right out of one of our articles or reviews. It happens. Basically, Google is repackaging our content into its own wrapper to answer a search query, but it's not sending the traffic our way in return.

 

[Sean Nelson]

Sometimes, the DPReview results show up fairly prominently. Often, you get an AI summary that may or may not have any useful information to answer your question, followed by a bunch of sponsored links and Reddit posts that are (sometimes) relevant. It's not predictable, and I suspect it depends on the exact search terms and how you phrase them.

Don't forget that you can add: "site:dpreview.com" after your search keywords to specifically get results for this web site (works for other sites too, of course). You'll still get some sponsored links at the top, but most of the rest of them should be right from this site.

 

[wklee]

Sometimes, the DPReview results show up fairly prominently. Often, you get an AI summary that may or may not have any useful information to answer your question, followed by a bunch of sponsored links and Reddit posts that are (sometimes) relevant. It's not predictable, and I suspect it depends on the exact search terms and how you phrase them.

Don't forget that you can add: "site:dpreview.com" after your search keywords to specifically get results for this web site (works for other sites too, of course). You'll still get some sponsored links at the top, but most of the rest of them should be right from this site.

I do this a lot. It helps to get site specific links.

Thanks.

 

[WilyKit]

I have more than noticed the extremely annoying "add as preferred source" message so I had to block it using Brave browser's "block elements" feature.

 

[GeoffRG]

I use Firefox and DuckDuckGo. The latter has an option (by clicking the "gear" icon on the search results page) to turn off AI generated summaries.

I stopped using Google some time ago because it doesn't always do as I ask. The idea that it can be subverted into prioritising web sites doesn't sit well with me. For those of us who don't/won't use Google clicking the box does precisely nothing.

 

[Dale Baskin]

I use Firefox and DuckDuckGo. The latter has an option (by clicking the "gear" icon on the search results page) to turn off AI generated summaries.

I stopped using Google some time ago because it doesn't always do as I ask. The idea that it can be subverted into prioritising web sites doesn't sit well with me. For those of us who don't/won't use Google clicking the box does precisely nothing.

You are correct that for those who don't use Google, the Preferred Sources settings won't make a difference.

But many people do use Google. For them, these settings can help surface content from trusted sites, whether it's DPReview or others. The feature also assists these sites in recovering some of the traffic that Google has diverted by repackaging their content inside Google's AI wrapper, rather than directing users to the original sources of information.

 

[Sean Nelson]

I stopped using Google some time ago because it doesn't always do as I ask. The idea that it can be subverted into prioritising web sites doesn't sit well with me.

I think pretty much all search engines prioritize sites who have paid to be at the top of search results - it's what funds them.

 

[egk4260]

If only I could find a way to eliminate some sites as sources!

 

[wklee]

DPReview as a preferred Source on Google is not being displayed now?

 

[Mathew Anderson]

DPReview as a preferred Source on Google is not being displayed now?

Hi wklee. We temporarily replaced the banner on the site to promote the forum migration. Once the migration completes, we'll likely be putting back the preferred Source on Google banner.

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DPReview Community Manager

 

[WilyKit]

If only I could find a way to eliminate some sites as sources!

There is a way. uBlacklist, available as an extension for browsers that support Chrome extensions (so not on smartphones and tablets), an add-on for Firefox (available for the mobile version as well), and uBlacklist for Safari on Apple's app store (Mac, iOS, iPadOS).

 

[CJAM]

It doesn't work in the UK..... feature not supported or similar wording on an error message