Detecting visitors coming from Google Discover allows you to offer a more relevant experience, better suited to their reading context: more direct content, a lighter paywall, or a personalized message, for example.

It is possible to know if a user comes from Google Discover in order to:

• Set up a specific context in Access
• Create a custom filter with Engage
• And therefore adapt the rendering based on the traffic source

Retrieving the Information

Google does not provide very transparent information about visits coming from Discover.

Currently, the following method is the best available solution to try to identify these users, even if it is not 100% reliable:

  const ref = document.referrer || "";  
  const ua = navigator.userAgent || "";

const googleDiscover =  
    ref.startsWith("android-app://com.google.android.googlequicksearchbox") ||  
    (ref === "https://www.google.com" && ua.includes("Android") && ua.includes("GSA/")) ||  
    ref.includes("googleapis.com/auth/chrome-content-suggestions") ||  
    (!ref && /GSA\/.*(iPhone|iPad|iPod)/.test(ua));

This method provides a usable signal to detect the majority of Discover visits, but it does not guarantee complete detection for all users.

Pass the information to Poool

Once the information is detected, you can pass it to Poool and create the corresponding targeting in your Dashboard.

Poool Access - custom context creation

On the technical side, you should create a custom context 👉 https://www.poool.dev/fr/docs/access/javascript/access/configuration#context

Poool Engage - custom filter creation

On the technical side, a custom filter should be created 👉 https://www.poool.dev/fr/docs/engage/javascript/methods#autocreate

This approach remains the best current solution to identify Discover traffic and use it effectively in Access and Engage, allowing you to adapt the user experience based on the acquisition source.

Updated on: 12/03/2026