Discord will make messages in discoverable servers searchable on Google starting next month, the company announced. Discoverable servers, which anyone can find through search without an invite link, will now display messages and discussions on server web pages accessible through search engines.
Discord says it's addressing a gap left by the decline of traditional forums. "Prior to Discord's launch, message boards were common, ranging from community-driven forums to official ones run by game studios," the company explained. "While they still exist today, many have moved into Discord servers. This has led to valuable information being locked in Discord conversations, inaccessible to the wider internet."
Server web pages launch November 16. Channel messages become viewable mid-December. Server admins decide which channels participate. Individual members control whether their own messages appear on web pages. Usernames and avatars will not display alongside messages.
In the EU, UK, Canada, Brazil, Australia, and South Korea, the member setting for Channel Messages defaults to off due to legal restrictions. Users in teen age groups cannot enable Channel Messages until they become adults. Elsewhere, the setting defaults to on.
The change raises questions about AI training data. Discord's current policy prohibits AI companies from training models on user messages. The company has not stated how this policy applies to messages now publicly indexed on search engines.