Last year Google announced a $1 billion licensing program to support publishers and sponsor new card-based content in services. Google News Showcase is coming to India now.
Today, the effort has signed more than 700 agreements with news outlets in Germany, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Australia, the Czech Republic, and Italy. News Showcase in India works with 30 national, regional and local news organizations:
The Hindu Group, HT Digital Streams Ltd, Indian Express Group, ABP LIVE, India TV, NDTV, Zee News, Amar Ujala, Deccan Herald, Punjab Kesari, The Telegraph India, IANS (Indo Asian News Service), and ANI.
Swipeable news showcase panels will be displayed on Google Discover and News starting in English and Hindi. Additional languages are coming this year, and many more will be included in the “future”.
Google will see payroll publishers in licensing agreements so that some packaged content is available for free in the hope of driving paid subscriptions. This feature means that readers will have the opportunity to read an article from a publisher while deepening their relationship with the publisher and encouraging them to subscribe.
Meanwhile, over the next three years, the Google News Initiative is working to “strengthen digital skills in newsrooms and journalism schools across India”. News Lab will train 50,000 journalists and students on digital tools to combat misinformation and data-testing.
Second, we introduce several new programs to help small and medium-sized publications achieve financial sustainability – all part of the GNI Digital Growth Program, which has trained 100 Indian news agency executives since its inception last year.
