We’re launching the Taiwan News Digital Co-prosperity Fund to help Taiwanese publishers build a digital foundation and expand their reach.
A summary of news programs and partnerships in 2022 in Asia Pacific
Wake up, check the news … according to this year’s Reuters Institute Digital News Report, smartphones have become the main way people access news first thing in the morning. This is just one small example of how consumer behavior continues to change and things that seemed radical when I started working in media more than two decades ago — like instant access to always-on news sources — are now the minimum of what we expect as readers.
As we mark 20 years since Google News launched, I’ve been reflecting on the work our team does with news publishers of all sizes in Asia Pacific to support their focus on reaching audiences with the news content that matters to them. Here are some highlights of this recent work and a look at what's coming up.
1. Local solutions for local needs
We work closely with the news industry across the region to develop solutions that work locally. In response to feedback from partners, we’ve developed bespoke programs such as Build New Local in Japan. This program is led by local newspapers to help them use technology to connect and digitally transform so they can become more sustainable and reach new audiences. We provided skills training on design and product thinking, facilitated an idea hackathon and brought local newspapers together to work on common challenges and new business ideas.
In Malaysia, we worked with The Star to conduct design thinking workshops to help determine the best way to maintain online readership and drive revenue, while in Indonesia we’ve worked with publishers like MalukuTerkini.com through the Local News Foundry to address their challenges. And in Australia, we partnered with five regional publishers as part of Project Kookaburra to experiment with new business models and strategies to thrive in the digital age.
2. Broader and deeper publisher engagement
In recent years, we’ve expanded our relationships with news partners and strengthened the way we work together, from conducting business training to providing support for publishers through activities such as the Google News Initiative (GNI) Digital Growth Program. In India, we identified more than 300 small-to-medium news publishers producing original news for local and regional communities and provided technical and product training for teams through the GNI Advertising Lab to help them grow digital ad revenues. The program also helps publishers optimize their content management systems, websites and ads.
We announced the GNI Journalism Emergency Relief Fund in 2020 to deliver urgent aid to thousands of small, medium and local news publishers globally as the news industry dealt with the economic downturn prompted by COVID-19. Many news partners in Asia Pacific benefited from this program — for example in South Korea, Jeonnam Ilbo used these funds to highlight the resilience of businesses affected by COVID-19 and connect them with support.
3. Tackling misinformation and supporting fact checking
The impact of misinformation has been top of mind during the pandemic, as people seek out reliable data, health information and updates. In this context we have worked to support local fact-checking efforts, for example investing in CekFakta, the collaborative fact-checking and verification project with the Indonesian Cyber Media Association, the Indonesian Anti-Slander Society (Mafindo) and the Alliance of Independent Journalists. The GNI was a founding supporter of CekFakta and earlier this year we announced additional investment to expand the fact-checking network.
Ahead of the Philippines’ presidential election, we supported #FactsFirstPH, a coalition of more than 100 news, civil society and business organizations to counter disinformation. They authored and amplified more than 800 fact checks and produced several studies on the nature of disinformation during the election period. We’ve also worked closely with DataLeads in India through the GNI India Training Network to train more than 35,000 journalists, media, educators, fact checkers and journalism students in fact-checking and verification skills.
4. Supporting innovation through products and programs
We work closely with news publishers across the Asia Pacific region to provide financial, technical and training support. More than 340 news publications in Asia Pacific have joined Google News Showcase since it launched in 2020, and we're continuing discussions with even more publishers across the region. This builds upon our proud history of partnering with news businesses around the world to strengthen quality journalism, and is the basis of our continuing efforts to create a thriving news ecosystem in Asia Pacific.
Beyond products, the Google News Initiative works to encourage diversity and innovation in news. This includes partnering on innovation through programs such as the GNI Innovation Challenge, which started in APAC back in 2018. Since the launch, GNI Innovation Challenges have supported more than 200 news organizations around the world, including outlets like Busan Ilbo in Korea and Khabar Lahariya in India.
5. Supporting a diverse news community
Through all our work with the news industry, we aim to help build diversity, fairness and inclusion standards into every program that we deliver and every partnership that we create. In Australia, we partnered with Media Diversity Australia to examine diversity in the local broadcast news industry and in Japan, we launched a news-specific track of the Women Will Leadership Program to help women working in news to advance their careers and support companies seeking to drive change in the work environment. In Korea and Australia, we will welcome new cohorts to leadership programs for journalists returning to work after parental leave.
Looking forward
To further support a diverse news ecosystem, we’re opening applications for the new Global News Equity Fund, which supports news organizations that serve or are owned by members of underrepresented communities. The GNI Global News Equity Fund will provide cash awards to independent journalists and small and medium-sized news organizations producing original news for minority and underrepresented audiences. Applications are open now until July 21 and available in Japanese, Korean, Hindi, Bahasa Indonesia and Thai.
Through these and other programs we work with news partners across the region to support their goals and strengthen quality journalism. I look forward to continuing these partnerships and will have more to share on new initiatives in the coming months.
One of the best parts of my role is seeing the great examples of news publishers embracing technology to grow new audiences and build sustainable business models in the Asia-Pacific region.
This week, we heard from news partners at the Google News Initiative (GNI) Global Summit, along with local events in Australia, India, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, on the impactful work they are doing.
Our GNI Impact Report (released during the Summit) features stories from publishers in the Asia-Pacific, including one of our partners DataLEADS, who we worked with to provide verification training for thousands of reporters across India.
We also heard from Indonesia’s Warta Ekonomi on how they improved their website and user experience, and developed their monetization strategy after taking part in the GNILocal News Foundry.
The GNI Innovation Challenge program launched in the Asia Pacific three years ago with a call for applications looking at new ideas to generate reader revenue. Since then, GNI Innovation Challenges have supported more than 200 news organizations around the world — and we heard some of their stories at the Summit.
Kumparan, a media organization in Indonesia, received funding from the GNI Innovation Challenge to help create kumparanDerma, a tool that streamlines the donation process for readers to provide aid during disasters and emergencies.
In India, The News Minute used GNI funding to identify a new, sustainable revenue stream that supplemented their existing advertising model. They used data and insights to launch a membership program and about a year and a half after the project began, they hit 3,000 subscribers. This project helped TNM continue to serve their audience with independent journalism.
The News Minute team
In Korea, Busan Daily used funding from the Innovation Challenge to improve the way they used data to understand their audience. These are just a few of the great examples we heard on how this program has helped publishers.
The GNI Global Summit featured an update on Google News Showcase, our new product experience and licensing program for news, which aims to help publishers engage more deeply with their readers and to help readers find, follow and support news organizations. Since it launched in October 2020, we’ve signed deals with more than 1,000 news publications around the world, including in India, Japan and Australia.
We also announced new features coming to Google Search that help readers find content from local publishers even more easily than before. We’re expanding a feature that we initially launched for COVID searches, so readers will soon see a carousel of local news stories when Google finds local news coverage relevant to their query. This carousel will be available globally.
There are so many great stories from publishers around the world, as well as updates on our ongoing support for the new ecosystem, in the GNI blog collection.
Twenty years ago, Google opened its first office in Japan. Today, we are announcing new investments that will continue our support of the country’s vibrant news industry. These investments will help people find quality journalism and contribute to the sustainability of news organizations. They will also help newsrooms engage their readers in new ways, through the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
To support news organizations and readers in Japan, we’re introducing Google News Showcase, our new curated online experience and licensing program. News Showcase panels display an enhanced view of an article or articles, giving participating publishers more ways to bring important news to readers and explain it in their own voice, along with more direct control of presentation and branding. The panels will appear across Google News on Android, iOS and the web, and in Discover on iOS and Android. They direct readers to the full articles on their websites, driving valuable traffic to those news organizations and enabling them to deepen their relationships with readers.
Starting today, News Showcase is rolling out in Japan with more than 40 news publishers including national, regional and local news organizations like The Yomiuri Shimbun, The Asahi Shimbun Company, Nikkei Inc.,The Chunichi Shimbun, KAHOKU SHIMPO PUBLISHING CO. and The Kyoto Shimbun Co., Ltd., together with news agencies JIJI PRESS, LTD. and Kyodo News. This launch builds on News Showcase deals signed with nearly 1,000 news publications in more than a dozen countries, including India, Germany, Brazil, Canada, France, the U.K., Australia, Czechia, Italy, Colombia and Argentina,with discussions underway in several other countries. More than 90% of the publications that have joined News Showcase so far provide local or community news.
The primary goal of News Showcase is to highlight news publishers that are invested in comprehensive current events journalism in the public interest. We are giving them a new way to curate their high-quality content on Google’s News and Discover platforms, bringing essential news coverage to readers looking for it.
Examples of how News Showcase panels will look with the content of some of our news partners in Japan.
As part of our licensing agreements with publishers for News Showcase, we're also paying participating news organizations to give readers access to a limited amount of paywalled content. This feature means readers will have the opportunity to read more of a publisher’s articles than they would otherwise be able to, encouraging them to learn more about the publication — and potentially subscribe.
Example of how some of the content from our News Showcase partners in Japan will look
"We are joining Google News Showcase to deliver high-quality news content in the Chunichi Shimbun and the Tokyo Shimbun to as many people as possible,” says Koji Hirata, Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Chunichi Shimbun, the top regional newspaper covering Tokai, Chubu and the Kanto/Tokyo Metropolitan region. “Apart from daily news, we will select unique stories that capture multiple perspectives and introduce them to users. Through Google News Showcase, we want readers to find a wide variety of information in the Chunichi Shimbun Web and the Tokyo Shimbun TOKYO Web that helps them make better choices for their life and future.”
“By participating in Google News Showcase, we look forward to extending the accurate and useful news we provide for people in Kyoto and Shiga,” says Tokuyuki Enjo, the Chief Editor of the Kyoto Shimbun, a local newspaper company covering the Kyoto and Shiga area. “In addition, we will work to bring content that touches upon the deep traditional culture and history of Kyoto to a broader audience than ever before.”
“We are thrilled to provide news from Okinawa Times globally through Google News Showcase,” says Kazue Yonamine, Director, Editor-in-Chief of The Okinawa Times, a local newspaper covering the Okinawa area. “Google's cooperation has become indispensable for the development of journalism. We aim to cooperate with each other and deliver useful information for the creation of a sustainable society.”
“As a local newspaper, our mission has been to deliver global and local news to the community in print. In the digital era, we need to expand our role to deliver local news to a broader global audience." said Seichiro Hanafusa, the webmaster of Shikoku Shimbun, the local newspaper covering the Shikoku region. "Google News Showcase is a tool for us to deliver our news articles across Japan as well as the world, and lets users easily subscribe to our content. With this opportunity, we will work even harder to create valuable content that motivates users to pay for."
Logos of our Japan news partners for Google News Showcase
News Showcase is just one part of our overall commitment to Japan’s news industry. We are expanding our Google News Initiative (GNI) efforts in Japan as well.
Women Will Leadership Program: To promote a more inclusive culture for the news industry, we are launching a news-specific track of Google’s Women Will Leadership Program. Through two months of leadership skills training and problem solving workshops, this program will help women working in news to advance their careers and support companies seeking to drive change in the work environment.
GNI Local Lab:We’re expanding the GNI Local Lab to support local news publishers in Japan. We will train more than 40 news publishers across regional prefectures with workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions to help news organizations improve their site performance and provide hands-on implementation support to grow digital revenue streams for local publishers.
Build New Local: We are also supporting Build New Local, a project led by local newspapers to help them use technology to connect and digitally transform so they can become more sustainable and reach new audiences. Through Grow with Google and Google News Lab, Google has provided skills training in areas such as digital marketing and audience development. We also supported an idea hackathon, where local newspapers gathered to solve common challenges by sharing tips on design thinking from CSI: Lab, and a new business idea contest will start later this year.
These programs build on our long-term support for Japanese news organizations of all sizes. Through News Lab we have trained more than 18,000 journalists on digital reporting tools, fighting misinformation and covering Japan's upcoming elections. We’ve provided digital transformation training to publishers on reader revenue, audience and digital ads via the GNI Digital Growth Program, and advanced audience engagement recommendations via the News Consumer Insights tool. And throughout the pandemic, our Journalism Emergency Relief Fund and GNI Innovation Challenge projects have helped local news organisations to continue providing the information their communities need.
Japan’s news industry has embraced technology to engage with readers and make data-driven decisions. We believe digital platforms can contribute to a sustainable, independent and diverse news industry, working with journalists, news outlets and news associations. We’re proud to be strengthening our commitment through News Showcase, along with our other News products and GNI programs, to support quality journalism.
For decades, Google has been a proud supporter of the Australian media industry, providing hundreds of millions of dollars to media organisations through our products and services, training programs, partnerships and assistance with digital transformation.
Earlier this year, we introduced our biggest investment to support the news industry yet - News Showcase and have signed more than 100 titles from across Australia with talks continuing with dozens more outlets of all sizes.
Today, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve significantly expanded the number of regional outlets on Showcase, having reached a new in-principle agreement with Country Press Australia.
Dozens of regional media outlets across Australia join Google News Showcase
Country Press Australia represents almost 180 independently owned regional and local newspapers and online platforms across Australia.
Under the agreement, it’s expected that Google will welcome over 70 regional Country Press Australia news publications to Google News Showcase - a product and licensing program that pays publishers to curate content and build deeper relationships with readers.
Kate Beddoe, Google’s Director of News Partnerships APAC, said the agreement would support many titles that have operated in their local communities for decades, providing vital news and information to their regions. “We are very pleased to reach this agreement and welcome Country Press Australia outlets to Google News Showcase,” Ms Beddoe said. “We are also working with Country Press Australia to support the ongoing digital transformation of its members, helping with the sustainability of these news businesses.”
“We’ve helped support the news industry for two decades and Showcase is our biggest investment yet. We look forward to continuing to build on this important work in partnership with the Australian news industry,” Ms Beddoe said.
Andrew Manuel, President of Country Press Australia, said the agreement recognises the vital importance of local news media to their communities. “Country Press Australia member newspapers provide an essential service to local communities and are vital to the local democracies being able to assist in holding those responsible to account," Mr Manuel said.
“Local newspapers are often the only source of local news and provide a platform for informed public debate. This agreement will help sustain public interest journalism across regional Australia well into the future with a monetary exchange, innovation changes as well as enabling a sustainable online model for traditional newspaper publishers," Country Press Australia President Andrew Manuel said.The CPA members bring the total number of publications on Showcase globally to nearly 1000.
Our work to support regional journalism through GNI
This investment builds on our efforts to help support regional journalism through the Google News Initiative (GNI), which has increased the capabilities and revenues of newsrooms through training programs, direct funding and Google products.
In the past year, GNI rolled out a new pilot program, led by Publishing Fellow Neil Varcoe, helping small newsrooms digitally transform through skills training and the development of new sustainable publishing models. The program provided training to more than 1,500 journalists and 200 publishers.
Through Project Kookaburra, we worked with media consultant Megan Brownlow, Buzzfeed Australia founder Simon Crerar and AAP Studios to help five regional publishers experiment with new business models and strategies to thrive in the digital age. The results showed publishers recording an increase in subscribers, advertising revenues and audience reach. We also worked with the Victorian Country Press Association to create a new digital advertising network across more than 80 regional publishers, enabling them to attract larger advertising customers.
We look forward to continuing to build on this important work in partnership with the Australian news industry.
Update on 11 February 2021:
25 Australian publications have joined and are getting paid through News Showcase, more than 450 globally
News Showcase launches in the UK and Argentina with the Financial Times, the Telegraph, Evening Standard and Clarin and more than 120 other publishers.
Reuters becomes the first global News Showcase partner, along with multiple publishers in France including Le Monde.
We’re excited to be announcing News Showcase partnerships with publishers all around the world. So far, seven Australian publishers – representing more than 25 titles – have signed on to our licensing program including Crikey, The Conversation, The New Daily and regional newspapers from Australian Community Media. Across the world more than 450 publications are now Showcase partners, including The Financial Times, New Statesman and The Telegraph in the UK, Le Monde in France, Der Spiegel in Germany, and global news brands like Reuters.
We believe that News Showcase is the right way to make payments to publishers under the Government’s proposed News Media Bargaining Code. It offers a way to support public interest journalism and help secure the future of the news industry without breaking Google Search. We're in discussions with publishers large and small and as we're looking to make Showcase available with more partners in Australia, we wanted to answer your top questions about this new program, how it's supporting publishers, and how it'd work under the News Media Bargaining Code:
What is Google News Showcase?
News Showcase is a product and licensing program that benefits publishers and readers. Readers get more insight on the stories that matter to them with curated story panels across several Google services. Participating news publishers will increase their revenue through monthly payments from Google, including for access to paywalled content to provide users free access to select stories. On top of this, news publishers can grow their business through high-value traffic to their sites and deeper relationships with their audience.
What is the benefit of Showcase to publishers?
News Showcase helps publishers deepen their relationships with their readers by utilising their branding and presentation to present content in a way that’s true to their look and feel. It also adds to the sustainability of news businesses where participating News Showcase publishers receive a fixed monthly fee for curating their articles on News Showcase, and in some cases for providing access to articles behind their paywall so that readers can see the value of becoming subscribers and publishers can build a relationship with readers. Showcase drives clicks through to news brands’ websites, giving publishers the opportunity to monetise that traffic through ads or subscriptions––on top of the fee.
What is the benefit of Showcase to users?
Users get a richer news experience from trusted news organisations and can discover publications covering their interests and the places they care about. News Showcase panels allow people to dive deeper into a story and see a list of important articles updated multiple times per day by their favourite publishers.
What is Google paying for?
Payments are made for the publishers’ curatorial expertise for beyond-the-paywall access and to curate content for story panels. Publishers receive monthly fees, which are intended to provide payments over three years. News Showcase is not a pay-per-click model, anything publishers get in terms of additional traffic from story panels or new subscribers is on top of that fee.
Where does it appear?
The Google News App
Google News Showcase story panels are now live in the Google News app. To view, navigate to news.google.com on your mobile, or you can download the app. (Android, iOS)
Discover
The panels are starting to roll out on Discover on iOS today, and will be visible to Australian users in the coming days. Discover appears in the Google Search App on mobile devices. The Google App is preinstalled on Android devices and can be downloaded for iOS here.
Some Android devices (for example the Google Pixel Phone), also feature Discover on the “-1 screen”, or the screen you see when you “swipe to the left”.
How can I see story panels today?
If you open the Google News app and navigate to the newsstand tab, you’ll see a carousel of story panels. And if you follow one of the publishers who are part of this initial launch, you might see one of the panels in your For You feed in the app.
Where is News Showcase operating?
News Showcase is live in Australia, Germany, Brazil, the UK and Argentina. Participating publishers there have created tens of thousands of panels which have been seen by millions of users across Google News and Discover on Android and iOS. More than 450 publications, large and small, have signed up in a dozen countries including Reuters, the Financial Times, the Independent, the Evening Standard, Der Spiegel, Le Monde. We will continue to sign up and launch more. We are operational and readying for launch in many more countries, including France, Canada and Japan.
What have publishers said about News Showcase?
Australian publishers:
Australian Community Media: "As a digital and content-focused media company serving Australia's major regional population centres, ACM is always looking for new ways for our trusted news brands to deliver their unrivalled local news coverage to the widest possible audience. Whether it's on our new apps or our websites, via podcasts, social media, newsletters or the printed newspaper, we want the journalism of mastheads like The Canberra Times and Newcastle Herald to reach our communities wherever they are. Showcase is an opportunity for our 14 daily titles to curate their trusted local journalism for Google News users and we are working constructively with Google to explore the exciting potential of this product to engage mobile audiences," says Tony Kendall, CEO of Australian Community Media ( a leading rural and regional media network).
The Conversation Media Group: “In recent years we've noticed Google has been increasing its effort to promote journalism that has gone through a rigorous process of fact checking. The Conversation only works with academics who are experts in their field, and all our articles are carefully curated by professional journalists. This means we're in a perfect position to work with Google to try and provide a stream of reliable information that can meet the needs of audiences,” Lisa Watts, CEO of The Conversation Media Group, (a global journalism network).
Schwartz Media: "This is a chance to take a leading role in putting quality journalism in front of people. It helps take the rigour of what we do at The Saturday Paper, The Monthly and 7am and connect it to broader audiences. It is one way of addressing the age of misinformation in which we live, ” says Rebecca Costello, CEO of Schwartz Media (an independent media organisation that publishes in-depth, original public interest reporting, focusing on storytelling and insight).
Solstice Media: “With local news under stress, finding new channels and new audiences for our premium content, in safe and curated environments, is a high priority. This opportunity will give us access to new markets and provide additional commercial benefits,” says Paul Hamra, Managing Director, Solstice Media (publisher of Australian news titles including InQueensland and InDaily in South Australia).
International publishers:
Reach: "We welcome this initiative and its potential to give public interest journalism a more visible platform in Google. For us, public interest journalism thrives when it is not just about recording events but is of genuine interest to the public and is able to attract an audience that means it is sustainable. Google's work here will help give readers a new way to discover news which is important to them, which they may not otherwise have discovered." David Higgerson, Chief Audience Officer, Reach (the largest commercial publisher in the U.K, with many regional and national brands).
The Telegraph:"We have a longstanding partnership with Google and we are pleased to be launch partners for News Showcase. We welcome the registration and subscription sampling opportunities that News Showcase will provide to Google users and we are confident that many of them will go on to become Telegraph subscribers," says Chris Taylor, COO, The Telegraph.
Reuters: “Reuters is committed to developing new ways of providing access to trusted, high-quality and reliable global news coverage at a time when it’s never been more important. We are thrilled to join Google as the first global news partner on News Showcase,” Eric Danetz, Global Head of Revenue, Reuters (press releasehere).
What publishers have signed on to Showcase in Australia?
There are 25 publications from leading Australian publishers that have signed up. We focused on regional and digital natives in our first wave of outreach because we believe News Showcase helps them find new audiences and build deeper relationships in a highly concentrated market. We are in talks with many more - large and small.
How could News Showcase work under the Code?
We have proposed to make Google News Showcase subject to the News Media Bargaining Code, that means if a publisher is discussing a News Showcase deal with Google, and they’re not happy with the negotiation, they could go to an arbitration to resolve any disagreement (please find more info on how News Showcase would work under the Code in our submission to the Australian Senate).
We know this is a workable solution because we've been able to do deals with publishers around the world. We’re committed to investing in the future of our Showcase product, to enable us to support Australian journalism in line with the goals of the Code.
What’s the difference between France and Australia?
We have offered (and agreed) similar deals for News Showcase in Australia as in France and many other countries around the world. Our concerns about the Code In Australia are about being asked to pay for all links and snippets which the European Copyright Directive does not. Links and snippets are the building blocks of the free and open web. Sir Tim Berners Lee, in his submission, agrees.
In Australia, we’re proposing to pay publishers for value with News Showcase. The difference to other places would be that News Showcase would operate under the Code, that means Australian publishers can go to arbitration on News Showcase to solve any disagreements.
With the news moving faster than ever, it's clear that journalism is an essential way to keep people informed. To meet growing reader and publisher needs, last year we increased our investment in news partnerships and launched Google News Showcase. Today we are happy to announce we are rolling out an initial version of the product to benefit users and publishers in Australia, with a keen focus on leading regional and independent publishers given the importance of local information and the role it plays in people’s everyday lives.
News Showcase is designed to bring value to both publishers and readers by providing a licensing program that pays publishers to curate content for story panels across Google services, and gives readers more insights into the stories that matter. Since launching last year, alongside a $1.3 billion AU (US $1 billion) global investment, we’ve more than doubled the number of publications that are part of News Showcase; now, there are over 450 publications across a dozen countries such as the U.K., Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Japan. Last month, we announced a global deal with Reuters as well as multiple deals with publishers in France, including the country’s three top daily newspapers.
Starting today, a growing number of Australian publishers, leading examples of the best of local and regional journalism, will be paid to provide content for News Showcase. The initial publishers featured in today’s launch were among the first globally to sign up, providing early feedback and input on how the product could help bring their journalism to the fore for readers. We have been continually working with Australian news publishers of all sizes to provide their readers with a different kind of news experience under News Showcase. As this early version of News Showcase rolls out, the partnerships will provide financial support for some of the country’s most respected independent, local and regional publications including The Canberra Times, The Illawarra Mercury, The Saturday Paper, Crikey, The New Daily, InDaily and The Conversation. We are looking forward to bringing more Australian media partners on board in the coming weeks and months as we further build out the experience for publishers and users.
“Private Media has always welcomed the opportunity to explore new platforms and experiment with how we get our journalism out there, and we're looking forward to what we can learn by having Crikey and SmartCompany appear on Google News Showcase,” says Zoe Dattner, Head of Publishing Operations at Private Media, an independent digital media company.
News Showcase contributes to a sustainable business model and helps deepen their relationships with readers.
Panels on News Showcase display an enhanced view of an article or articles, giving participating publishers more ways to bring important news to readers and explain it in their own voice, along with more direct control of presentation and branding. The panels will appear across Google News on Android, iOS and the mobile web, and in Discover on iOS, bringing high-value traffic to a publisher’s site. We also plan to bring News Showcase to Search as well as the other surfaces of Google News and Discover in the future. Each article linked in a News Showcase panel takes the reader directly to the corresponding page on a publisher’s site, allowing publishers to further grow their business by showing users ads and subscription opportunities.
An example of how News Showcase story panels will look with some of our Australian publishing partners
We’re also making it easier for publishers to learn more about what their readers care about. Publishers are already able to get analytics on their content in a variety of Google products, and in the coming months they will be able to learn even more with News Showcase metrics on Search Console. This means publishers will have more data to better understand which articles and topics interest readers the most.
"As a digital and content-focused media company serving Australia's major regional population centres, ACM is always looking for new ways for our trusted news brands to deliver their unrivalled local news coverage to the widest possible audience,” says Tony Kendall, CEO of Australian Community Media, a leading rural and regional media network. “Whether it's on our new apps or our websites, via podcasts, social media, newsletters or the printed newspaper, we want the journalism of mastheads like The Canberra Times and Newcastle Herald to reach our communities wherever they are. Showcase is an opportunity for our 14 daily titles to curate their trusted local journalism for Google News users and we are working constructively with Google to explore the exciting potential of this product to engage mobile audiences."
News Showcase builds on our news licensing program launched last year, which is already paying publishers for quality journalism, and other news-related efforts such as Subscribe with Google. Participating News Showcase publishers receive a set monthly fee for curating their articles for News Showcase, and in some cases for providing access to articles behind their paywall so that readers can see the value of becoming subscribers and publishers can build a relationship with readers. Our investment in this product is a significant step forward in helping secure a strong future for Australian news and reflects our continuing commitment to the financial sustainability of the news industry.
We developed News Showcase in close collaboration with our news publisher partners in Australia, who have contributed valuable feedback and input on product features that will help connect readers to their journalism. We’re confident that News Showcase offers a fair, practical way forward for publishers to generate revenue by curating and featuring their content on this product.
"This is a chance to take a leading role in putting quality journalism in front of people,” says Rebecca Costello, CEO of Schwartz Media, an independent media organization that publishes in-depth, original public interest reporting, focusing on storytelling and insight. “It helps take the rigour of what we do at The Saturday Paper, The Monthly and 7am and connect it to broader audiences. It is one way of addressing the age of misinformation in which we live."
Now that News Showcase is live in Australia, it is even easier for people to find valuable content from the news organizations they trust, or discover new publications covering their interests and the places they care about. News Showcase panels let users dive deeper into a story and see important articles updated multiple times per day by their favourite publishers. So, for example, if a user follows an outlet that covers their local news, they will see fresh updates on the most important local stories, selected by that newsroom. Relevant publications’ panels will also be shown directly within the For You feed, plus in a dedicated area within Newsstand on Google News where users can discover News Showcase publications.
Lisa Watts, CEO of The Conversation Media Group, a global journalism network, says while there is a deluge of information online, audiences were struggling to know what to trust. “In recent years we've noticed Google has been increasing its effort to promote journalism that has gone through a rigorous process of fact checking,” she says. “The Conversation only works with academics who are experts in their field, and all our articles are carefully curated by professional journalists. This means we're in a perfect position to work with Google to try and provide a stream of reliable information that can meet the needs of audiences.”
“Our aim is to rebuild trust in experts and share quality information with those who need it most and we are working with Google to achieve these goals," Watts says.
An example of different New Showcase panel layouts from our publishing partners in Australia
Google News Showcase is one of our biggest investments in news to date, and builds on efforts like the Google News Initiative’s $300 million global commitment, our emergency funding for local publishers globally to help with the impact of COVID-19 and our Digital Growth Program aimed at small and medium-sized publishers to accelerate their business growth.
News Showcase also marks an evolution in our approach as we step up our efforts, alongside other companies, governments and civil society, in contributing to a better future for quality journalism.
With the news moving faster than ever, it's clear that journalism is an essential way to keep people informed. To meet growing reader and publisher needs, last year we increased our investment in news partnerships and launched Google News Showcase. Today we are happy to announce we are rolling out an initial version of the product to benefit users and publishers in Australia, with a keen focus on leading regional and independent publishers given the importance of local information and the role it plays in people’s everyday lives.
News Showcase is designed to bring value to both publishers and readers by providing a licensing program that pays publishers to curate content for story panels across Google services, and gives readers more insights into the stories that matter. Since launching last year, alongside a $1.3 billion AU (US $1 billion) global investment, we’ve more than doubled the number of publications that are part of News Showcase; now, there are over 450 publications across a dozen countries such as the U.K., Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Japan. Last month, we announced a global deal with Reuters as well as multiple deals with publishers in France, including the country’s three top daily newspapers.
Starting today, a growing number of Australian publishers, leading examples of the best of local and regional journalism, will be paid to provide content for News Showcase. The initial publishers featured in today’s launch were among the first globally to sign up, providing early feedback and input on how the product could help bring their journalism to the fore for readers. We have been continually working with Australian news publishers of all sizes to provide their readers with a different kind of news experience under News Showcase. As this early version of News Showcase rolls out, the partnerships will provide financial support for some of the country’s most respected independent, local and regional publications including The Canberra Times, The Illawarra Mercury, The Saturday Paper, Crikey, The New Daily, InDaily and The Conversation. We are looking forward to bringing more Australian media partners on board in the coming weeks and months as we further build out the experience for publishers and users.
“Private Media has always welcomed the opportunity to explore new platforms and experiment with how we get our journalism out there, and we're looking forward to what we can learn by having Crikey and SmartCompany appear on Google News Showcase,” says Zoe Dattner, Head of Publishing Operations at Private Media, an independent digital media company.
News Showcase contributes to a sustainable business model and helps deepen their relationships with readers.
Panels on News Showcase display an enhanced view of an article or articles, giving participating publishers more ways to bring important news to readers and explain it in their own voice, along with more direct control of presentation and branding. The panels will appear across Google News on Android, iOS and the mobile web, and in Discover on iOS, bringing high-value traffic to a publisher’s site. We also plan to bring News Showcase to Search as well as the other surfaces of Google News and Discover in the future. Each article linked in a News Showcase panel takes the reader directly to the corresponding page on a publisher’s site, allowing publishers to further grow their business by showing users ads and subscription opportunities.
An example of how News Showcase story panels will look with some of our Australian publishing partners
We’re also making it easier for publishers to learn more about what their readers care about. Publishers are already able to get analytics on their content in a variety of Google products, and in the coming months they will be able to learn even more with News Showcase metrics on Search Console. This means publishers will have more data to better understand which articles and topics interest readers the most.
"As a digital and content-focused media company serving Australia's major regional population centres, ACM is always looking for new ways for our trusted news brands to deliver their unrivalled local news coverage to the widest possible audience,” says Tony Kendall, CEO of Australian Community Media, a leading rural and regional media network. “Whether it's on our new apps or our websites, via podcasts, social media, newsletters or the printed newspaper, we want the journalism of mastheads like The Canberra Times and Newcastle Herald to reach our communities wherever they are. Showcase is an opportunity for our 14 daily titles to curate their trusted local journalism for Google News users and we are working constructively with Google to explore the exciting potential of this product to engage mobile audiences."
News Showcase builds on our news licensing program launched last year, which is already paying publishers for quality journalism, and other news-related efforts such as Subscribe with Google. Participating News Showcase publishers receive a set monthly fee for curating their articles for News Showcase, and in some cases for providing access to articles behind their paywall so that readers can see the value of becoming subscribers and publishers can build a relationship with readers. Our investment in this product is a significant step forward in helping secure a strong future for Australian news and reflects our continuing commitment to the financial sustainability of the news industry.
We developed News Showcase in close collaboration with our news publisher partners in Australia, who have contributed valuable feedback and input on product features that will help connect readers to their journalism. We’re confident that News Showcase offers a fair, practical way forward for publishers to generate revenue by curating and featuring their content on this product.
"This is a chance to take a leading role in putting quality journalism in front of people,” says Rebecca Costello, CEO of Schwartz Media, an independent media organization that publishes in-depth, original public interest reporting, focusing on storytelling and insight. “It helps take the rigour of what we do at The Saturday Paper, The Monthly and 7am and connect it to broader audiences. It is one way of addressing the age of misinformation in which we live."
Now that News Showcase is live in Australia, it is even easier for people to find valuable content from the news organizations they trust, or discover new publications covering their interests and the places they care about. News Showcase panels let users dive deeper into a story and see important articles updated multiple times per day by their favourite publishers. So, for example, if a user follows an outlet that covers their local news, they will see fresh updates on the most important local stories, selected by that newsroom. Relevant publications’ panels will also be shown directly within the For You feed, plus in a dedicated area within Newsstand on Google News where users can discover News Showcase publications.
Lisa Watts, CEO of The Conversation Media Group, a global journalism network, says while there is a deluge of information online, audiences were struggling to know what to trust. “In recent years we've noticed Google has been increasing its effort to promote journalism that has gone through a rigorous process of fact checking,” she says. “The Conversation only works with academics who are experts in their field, and all our articles are carefully curated by professional journalists. This means we're in a perfect position to work with Google to try and provide a stream of reliable information that can meet the needs of audiences.”
“Our aim is to rebuild trust in experts and share quality information with those who need it most and we are working with Google to achieve these goals," Watts says.
An example of different New Showcase panel layouts from our publishing partners in Australia
Google News Showcase is one of our biggest investments in news to date, and builds on efforts like the Google News Initiative’s $300 million global commitment, our emergency funding for local publishers globally to help with the impact of COVID-19 and our Digital Growth Program aimed at small and medium-sized publishers to accelerate their business growth.
News Showcase also marks an evolution in our approach as we step up our efforts, alongside other companies, governments and civil society, in contributing to a better future for quality journalism.
