Headquartered in Milan, Italy, financial news publisher Il Sole 24 Ore has roots stretching back to 1865. The newspaper’s name (“The sun 24 hours”) reflects their mission to be a reliable and impartial daily guide for individuals, families, businesses, and professionals — to spread knowledge and encourage economic development. Il Sole 24 Ore’s online news portal was founded in 1999, becoming an early leader in online news delivery. They haven’t slowed down since.

“The complexity of the economic, political, social, and cultural issues of the contemporary world is constantly increasing,” says General Director Karen Nahum, head of publishing and digital media. “We are a source of information and training on areas ranging from economic and financial issues to culture, climate change, and innovation. We offer tools [for readers to orient themselves] in the facts of the present and become protagonists of transformation for the future.”

One of the tools they sought to provide readers was a site search function that could deliver relevant, personalized results from across their portfolio of products. With a robust mix of varied content available, there wasn’t a straightforward way for users to discover the news portal’s articles and other media on topics important to them.

“They search on everything from economic policies and politics to laws and regulations to sustainability, financial education, markets, technology and AI, and broader infotainment,” Nahum says. “Our users are educated professionals. To meet their interests and [make] Il Sole 24 Ore’s entire contents and products portfolio [easily accessible] was essential. We wanted to further correlate [related] topics and create a [more comprehensive] list of articles from our archives.”

Elevating the site search function, says Nahum, was essential to give readers full access to current and archived content, increase the number of registered users, build brand loyalty, and create value for clients. Il Sole 24 Ore had previously worked with the Google News Initiative (GNI) on content and product recommendation projects and paywall improvement. They had also attended GNI-sponsored educational programs, so they knew where to turn with their new search ideas.

The publisher approached GNI with goals for developing a site search function that would deliver personalized, AI-powered results — drawing content from their vast network of specialized digital newspapers and other products and services. They worked with the GNI team to create a roadmap to develop the new site search platform.

“With a structured workflow of calls and documentation, [the GNI team] guided us from the first proof of concept to the final delivery,” Nahum explains. Development took about a year. Il Sole 24 Ore chose Google Cloud IaaS to host the new site search platform, integrating Google Ad Manager for a better user experience and improved results for marketers.