Google Preferred Sources Arrives in Italy
TL;DR: As of May 2026, Google Preferred Sources is available in Italy. You can select the news sites to prioritize in Google Search's news section. The feature — already active in the US and India since August 2025 — lets you build a "fast lane" for the outlets you want to read.
Google has always decided for you which news sources to show you. With Preferred Sources, the decision becomes yours — at least in part.
What Preferred Sources Is
Preferred Sources is a Google Search feature that lets users select the news sites they want to see more often in the news section of search results.
Once selected, preferred sites appear more frequently in two places:
- In the "Top stories" section of search results for current topics
- In a dedicated "From your sources" section that Google shows to users who've set their preferences
It's not an exclusive filter — Google keeps showing other sources too. It's a prioritization: the selected outlets move up in the hierarchy relative to the standard algorithmic ranking.
How to Use It in Italy
The process is simple:
- Search for a current topic on Google (e.g., "economy," "technology," "soccer")
- Scroll to the "Top stories" section
- Click the star icon next to the section title
- Select the sites you want to add to your preferred sources
- Confirm your choice
The added sources are tied to your Google account. The preference syncs across devices and stays active in subsequent searches.
Why It Arrived Late in Italy
The feature launched in the United States and India in August 2025 — markets where Google News has an established presence and where outlets had already requested direct visibility mechanisms for loyal readers.
Italy is part of the second global rollout cycle, which began in May 2026. Google hasn't announced a precise timeline for other European markets.
The Impact for News Publishers
For outlets and news sites, Preferred Sources is a significant change. According to Google's data, readers who add a site as a preferred source are twice as likely to click on it compared to those who see it in standard results.
It's a loyalty mechanism built directly into Google Search — without going through newsletters, push notifications, or dedicated apps. The user "follows" an outlet without ever leaving Google's ecosystem.
For publishers, it means building a recognizable, trusted brand — not just optimizing for algorithmic ranking — becomes a direct competitive factor. A reader who adds you as a preferred source is a reader who wants to find you, not one who finds you by chance.
The Context: Google and Control Over Information
Preferred Sources arrives at a moment of change in the relationship between Google and news outlets. In Europe, discussions about publishers' right to be compensated for indexed content have produced agreements in several countries. In Italy, the issue is still open.
Preferred Sources doesn't resolve the economic issue, but it introduces a different signal of intent: Google acknowledges that users have source preferences, and chooses to build them into the algorithm instead of ignoring them.
It's also an indirect response to the fragmentation of news platforms: rather than losing readers to TikTok, Substack, or private newsletters, Google is trying to keep the news-reading habit within Search.
Conclusion
Preferred Sources is a small feature with non-trivial implications. For users: more control over what they read. For publishers: a new loyalty vector built into Google. For Google: a way to make Search stickier compared to alternative information channels. It's worth five minutes to set up.
Sources: Google Blog Italia · Quattroruote · Hardware Upgrade