The technology giant has signed licensing deals with about 200 publications in select countries with plans to add more countries and expand geographically.
Google, along with Facebook, controls the bulk of the advertising dollars that once went to news industry publishers. Declining revenues have led to smaller newsrooms and dwindling resources to tell local stories. Spending billions of dollars on licensing news is a way to show Google’s publishers that it is committed to paying for high quality journalism and sustaining a struggling industry.
Starting Thursday, Google users in Brazil and Germany will be able to access the feature. Upon launch, News Showcase will only be available in the Google News app on Android. But it will soon come to the iOS app and later expand to the Google Discover app and Google Search.
“It’s clear that the newspaper industry has long faced economic challenges,” Brad Bender, Google’s vice president of product management for News, told CNN Business. “I think many of us in the ecosystem want to move forward to get the news and enable a better future. This is a huge investment, our biggest investment today, but it will really advance 20 years of effort with the industry.”
“Nevertheless, our concerns about the code are serious, although we believe they can be resolved and hope to bring a news showcase to Australia soon, as we believe this program will help publishers grow their audience and our our Australian The news will contribute to the overall sustainability of the partners, “Mel Silva, managing director of Google Australia Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement.
For the news showcase, Google has deals with publications in Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Participating publishers include the German magazine Der Spiegel, the Brazilian daily newspaper Folha DS. Paulo and Canadian media company Village Media.
Google declined to say when it would launch the U.S. Will be released with publishers.
Payments to each publisher vary depending on what and how much they offer, the banner said. Told the business. In the future, Google will allow publishers to include not only images and text, but also video and audio dio in the news showcase.
Bender said Google’s new product is called a news showcase because publishers will “showcase their journalism and the issues that matter to it.”
“Depending on the story and how they want to tell it, participating publishers can choose the best template to showcase their best journalism and tell the story the way they want to.” “This additional reference for users not only helps users better understand the story, but also helps them to understand the publisher’s editorial voice and preferences.”
Bender said Google plans to advance the three-year commitment and will therefore invest more than the planned 1 billion.
Hadas Gold and Michelle Toh contributed to this report.
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