Google Discover Comes to Desktop: What It Means for Your SEO Strategy

On April 9, 2025, during Search Central Live in Madrid, Google announced the launch of Discover on the desktop version of its homepage. Previously exclusive to mobile devices, this personalized content feed is now available on computers, directly below the search bar. A subtle change in form, but a major one in substance, which could well reshape publishers’ distribution strategies and restart the race for real-time content optimized for discovery.

From Mobility to Omnichannel: Google Discover Takes a Leap

Since its launch in 2018, Google Discover has established itself as an alternative entry point to classic search. Accessible from the Google app or the homepage on mobile, this intelligent feed offers each user personalized content, based on their interests, browsing history, and recent activity on Google services.

Until now, this discovery experience was limited to the mobile world. But with the progressive rollout of Discover on desktop, Google is initiating a paradigm shift: offering content without a query, even to users on computers. A decision that reflects a broader trend – that of proactive navigation, where information comes to the user, regardless of the device used.

While the news was announced without excessive fanfare during Search Central Live in Madrid, it marks a strategic turning point. For content publishers and SEO experts, an entire facet of organic visibility is opening up to a new context of use: that of the desktop, where sessions are often longer, readings more in-depth, and opportunities for conversion, more qualified.

A New Distribution Lever for Content Publishers

By being available on the desktop version of Google, Discover significantly expands the field of possibilities for publishers. Where Discover traffic was historically linked to mobile use, often occasional and contextual, its desktop version integrates into a more stable consultation environment, conducive to long reading and engagement.

This new window of exposure comes at a key moment: when publishers are seeking to diversify their traffic sources and reduce their dependence on social networks. Discover on desktop meets this expectation by adding an algorithmic distribution channel capable of generating visibility spikes, sometimes spectacular, for content deemed relevant and attractive by Google’s recommendation system.

Discover on Desktop: Technical and Strategic Recommendations

Although Discover does not rely on a keyword-based logic, its integration into the desktop feed reinforces the importance of certain well-defined technical and editorial criteria.

High-Resolution Images and Correct Tagging

1- Use visuals of at least 1200 px wide (in landscape format).

2- Activate the max-image-preview:large option in the tags to allow Google to display a large image.

3- Do not include text in images, avoid overly visible logos or watermarks.

4- Host images on fast-loading URLs (CDN recommended).

Impeccable Semantic Structuring

1- Properly tag titles with , , etc.

2- Use the Article, NewsArticle, or BlogPosting schema in structured data (JSON-LD), with author, headline, image, datePublished, etc.

Optimization of Internal Linking and Loading Time

Ensure that pages are quickly accessible via the XML sitemap and internal linking.

Avoid 301 redirects or obsolete AMP pages.

Maintain a high score in Core Web Vitals, particularly LCP (<2.5s) and CLS (<0.1).

Click-Through Rate and Engagement as Secondary Signals

Although Google does not officially confirm it, the click-through rate in Discover seems to play a role in the recurrence of appearances.

Analyzing performance via Search Console > Discover can provide insights into the titles, images, and formats that perform well.

What Tools to Monitor and Optimize Your Presence in Discover?

One of the major challenges with Google Discover — whether it’s the mobile or desktop version — remains its lack of transparency. No position, no keyword, and an algorithmic distribution logic that is difficult to model. However, several tools allow publishers to have a more refined reading of their performance and adjust their strategy.

Google Search Console: The Basic Interface… and its Limits

As soon as a site receives traffic via Discover, a dedicated report is activated in the Search Console. It allows access to:

• The number of impressions and clicks from Discover;
• The most performing URLs over a given period;
• The average CTR, often indicative of the quality of the visual and the title.

But the tool does not offer any segmentation by device type (mobile vs desktop), nor by user category, which limits fine analysis — especially since the desktop deployment.

Google Analytics 4: A Useful Complement

Even if GA4 does not explicitly distinguish Discover traffic, some segments by source/support allow you to isolate abnormal peaks on “google.com” without keywords. This may indicate a visit to the Discover feed, especially if the pages concerned do not appear in classic search results.

UX Monitoring Tools

To optimize the chances of being picked up by Discover, it is crucial to maintain an excellent user experience. Solutions such as:

• PageSpeed Insights,
• WebPageTest,
• Cloudflare Analytics (for images), allow you to detect rendering blocks, slowdowns, or poorly configured deferred loads.

Technical Audit and Crawl (OnCrawl, Screaming Frog, JetOctopus)

Although these tools are not dedicated to Discover, they allow you to identify indirect impediments to indexability or page quality: duplicate content, tagging errors, image weight, server response time, etc.

Discover should be thought of as a Google product in its own right, which combines UX, editorial strategy, and SEO rigor. There is no magic tool, but an editorial logic to strengthen, and signals to monitor with precision.

Discover: A Channel with High Potential… But Unpredictable

Despite the opportunities offered by its desktop deployment, Discover remains an unstable channel for publishers. Visibility can fluctuate from one day to the next, without prior signal or apparent reason. Some articles can generate several thousand clicks in a few hours, then disappear completely from the feed.

This phenomenon, often referred to as a “traffic spike,” can be difficult to control in terms of forecasts and monetization. Linear traffic models are unsuitable, and advertising platforms sometimes struggle to adjust to these sudden peaks.

Another limit: the lack of control. There is no way to index or “force” the inclusion of content in Discover. Even by respecting all the best practices, some articles will never be distributed — without knowing why.

For SEO and editorial teams, this requires treating Discover as an opportunistic channel: to cultivate, to monitor, but without making it the central pillar of a long-term visibility strategy.