Google to Pay $3 Bn to News Publications Around the Globe to Boost Journalism

• American tech giant Google will pay $3 billion to news publishers around the globe over the next three years to boost journalism.
• The company also announces a new product "Google News Showcase" that will benefit both publishers and readers.
• The feature will soon expand to countries including India, Belgium, and the Netherlands starting with Brazil and Germany.

To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful, American tech giant Google will pay $3 billion to news publishers around the globe over the next three years, CEO Sundar Pichai announced in a blog today.

With an initial investment of $1 billion, Google is building on long-term support in partnerships with news publishers and the future of news. The company also announces a new product "News Showcase".

News Showcase will benefit both publishers and readers. It features the editorial curation of award-winning newsrooms to give readers more insight into the stories that matter, and in the process, helps publishers develop deeper relationships with their audiences.

News Showcase is made up of story panels that will appear initially in Google News on Android. The product will launch soon on Google News on iOS and will come to Google Discover and Search in the future.

These panels give participating publishers the ability to package the stories that appear within Google’s news products, providing deeper storytelling and more context through features like timelines, bullets, and related articles. Other components like video, audio, and daily briefings will come next. 

This approach is distinct from Google's other news products because it leans on the editorial choices individual publishers make about which stories to show readers and how to present them.

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"Both News Showcase and our financial investment—which will extend beyond the initial three years—are focused on contributing to the overall sustainability of our news partners around the world," Sundar Pichai wrote in a blog post.

"Alongside other companies, governments, and civic societies, we want to play our part by helping journalism in the 21st century not just survive, but thrive," he added.

Google has signed partnerships for News Showcase with nearly 200 leading publications across Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the U.K., and Australia.

But, it will start rolling out first to readers in Brazil and Germany and will expand to other countries in the coming months where local frameworks support these partnerships.

The number of news publications will grow as the company works to expand News Showcase to other countries including India, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Google also said, effective January 20, 2021, developers charging for apps and downloads from Google Play or have in-app purchases (IAPs) must use Google Play's billing system as the method of payment, and pay 30 percent commission to Google.

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