Late last year, Google News introduced Showcase, an initiative aimed at highlighting informative stories and, among other things, bringing readers’ attention. Google even announced through the program subsidizing access to selected pieces of payment walls. Following an initial launch in Germany and Brazil, Google News Showcase brought to Australia last week – and now the company has announced that it will be coming to even more countries.
Described by Google as ‘a product where we support and pay publishers to put together their journalism just for you,’ News Showcase launches today for readers in the UK and Argentina. 120 publishers participate in the UK, with names such as The Financial Times, The Telegraph and Reuters. In Argentina, 40 news publications are on board, including the two largest newspapers in the country.
Readers in these countries will soon have access to News Showcase panels compiled by news editors and shown to them by Google’s intelligent intelligence. Today’s launch also includes access to selected paid wall content, giving users the opportunity to read more of the content of a publication than they would otherwise.
An example of how different News Showcase panels can appear in the UK
Google says the panels already appear in Google News on Android, iOS and the mobile web, as well as in the Discover feed on iOS. The company plans to launch it in other versions of these products in the coming months – as well as launching the product in new countries.
