Since late April 2026, Google News‘ “Preferred Sources” feature has been available in Italy. Users can now explicitly indicate which publications they want to see at the top of their news feed across Google Search, Discover, and Google News.
Why does it matter?
According to a report by Reuters Institute, organic traffic to news publisher websites dropped by roughly one third between 2024 and 2025. The main driver is Google’s AI-generated summaries, which answer users’ questions directly on the results page with no need to click through to any external source.
“Preferred Sources” opens a different channel, not algorithmic, but based on an explicit choice made by the reader. A reader who adds you to their preferences didn’t stumble upon you by chance; they chose you. That’s the difference between traffic and a relationship.
How to add a source
The feature is built directly into the search experience. When you search for a current events topic, a star icon will appear next to the “Top News” section. Clicking on it lets you select the sources you want to follow and add them to your list.
Once configured, content from those sites will appear more frequently in two specific sections: “Top News” and “From Your Sources.” There’s no limit to how many sources you can select, and preferences can be updated at any time.
Hot to use qiota
Knowing the feature exists isn’t enough. You need to ask your readers to actually use it.
With qiota, you can do exactly that: in a simple, contextual, and non-intrusive way, directly on your website, while the reader is already engaged with one of your articles.
A practical workflow you can activate in minutes:
- Create a segment targeting visitors coming from Google Organic Search who are reading free articles
- Launch a skippable wall (or a sticky bar) with the message: “Add us to your Preferred Sources on Google so you never miss our articles“
- Activate the campaign and the system takes care of the rest
Being in a user’s preferred sources means stable traffic that’s less exposed to algorithm changes. It’s one of the few remaining levers for building a direct relationship with your audience and the data backs it up: users who add a site to their list are twice as likely to visit it.
The opportunity is there. It’s up to you to seize it.
Start today with qiota!