Google has a $ 1 billion plan to pay publishers for content that appears in a News Showcase product. It’s the company’s preferred route to support journalism, and comes because it’s caught up in a dispute with Australia over the forthcoming requirement to essentially ‘pay for links’. Google News Showcase has just surprisingly been announced for Australia.
Google said in Australia on Friday morning that it was launching a first version of the product to benefit users and publishers in Australia. ‘It focuses specifically on’ leading regional and independent publishers. ‘
The Canberra Times, The Illawarra Mercury, The Saturday Paper, Crikey, The New Daily, InDaily and The Conversation
News Showcase consists of maps that can be called ‘story panels’, which contain timelines, bullet points and article lists, with the plan to add video and audio in the future. Each contains a publisher’s trademark in the top left corner and opens a corresponding article. It’s available in Google News for Android, iOS and mobile web, as well as Discover on iOS.
This launch comes in the context of an ongoing dispute between Google and the Australian Government over the “News Media Bargaining Code.” Australia was originally expected to be one of the first countries to receive the News Showcase, but plans have changed amid uncertainty. This product is Google’s preferred alternative to the upcoming law.
It now looks like Google has changed course, or is trying to encourage publications. The company said today it was “looking forward to bringing more Australian media partners on board in the coming weeks and months”.
Participating News Showcase publishers receive a fixed monthly fee for compiling their News Showcase articles, and in some cases for accessing articles behind their payroll, so readers can see the value of becoming subscribers and publishers having a relationship with readers can build up.
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