Author Archives: Rohan Tiwary

An update on our support for Asia’s news industry

For the news industry, COVID-19 has intensified the existing challenges that have come with evolving news consumption patterns and changing technology. In the Asia-Pacific region, publishers are reassessing their business models while remaining committed to quality journalism — at a time when more people around the region are seeking out trustworthy information online.


The Google News Initiative (GNI) is working with many of these news organizations as they work to become digital businesses, from publishers focused on using data to shift their strategy to those looking to adopt new revenue models, and from grassroots publications to groups that represent the industry as a whole. 


Across Asia-Pacific, where we've invested $33 million in GNI — and supported more than 1,000 news organizations — we’ve been helping publishers with emergency funds and working with newsrooms to build resilience. And we’ve expanded programs and partnerships aimed at ensuring organizations across the region can make the most of digital technology. 


Digital growth trainings and data management tools

News publishers that want to better manage data are using our News Consumer Insights and Realtime Content Insights tools, including Korean and Japanese publishers. We’ve also brought the Digital Growth Program to Asia-Pacific, rolling out localized content on audience engagement, reader revenue and data in Indonesia, Japan and Korea, as well as in English-speaking countries. So far, more than 1,600 practitioners from 260 news organizations across the region have registered for the training.


A graphic summarizing the key parts of the Google News Initiative’s Digital Growth Program, including audience development, reader revenue, data and product.

Helping publishers boost digital subscriptions

In partnership with the World Association of News Publishers, we’ve launched the Asia-Pacific Subscriptions Lab, which aims to help publishers improve how they attract, retain and earn revenue from subscribers. Eight publishers— BloombergQuint, Business Insider Japan, CommonWealth Magazine, The Hindu, The Jakarta Post, Kompas, Malaysiakini and Southeast Asia Globe—participated in the intensive four-month program.


A graphic with the logos of news organizations that took part in the Google News Initiative’s APAC Subscriptions lab.

As our report on the Subscriptions Lab shows, publishers are already seeing positive results. The Hindu, for example, achieved a 50% increase in sign-ups by removing sign-up barriers and making offers more visible and easier to compare. Pradeep Gairola, The Hindu’s Vice President and Business Head, said the experience “brought clarity on the possibilities and the way ahead… and gave us insights into strategies adopted by other publishers.”


Elevating quality journalism and fact-checking

We continue to support newsroom talent across the region with a range of verification programs. And as vaccination programs pick up pace, we’re backing organizations working to combat pandemic-related misinformation with stringent fact-checking. Through GNI’s global COVID-19 Vaccine Counter-Misinformation Open Fund, we’re providing grants to three important fact-checking projects in the region. 


One recipient, Katadata from Indonesia, is working with the Indonesia Traditional Wet Market Merchants Association. Another recipient, Stuff from New Zealand, has joined up with Māori Television and the Pacific Media Network. And India’s The Quint is leading a broad collaborative project to source hyper-local misinformation and distribute fact-checks through a grassroots network of rural women.


With an eye on the next generation of news leaders in Asia-Pacific, we’ve also kicked off the first GNI University Verification Campaign designed to train tertiary students in fact-checking, including quizzes and video tutorials. 


These are just a few examples of our ongoing efforts to support the news industry. We’re learning from our partners all the time, and we look forward to continuing to work with publishers, industry associations and journalism schools as the industry prepares for the post-pandemic future.

Reflecting on our work with Asian newsrooms

When we first launched the Google News Initiative (GNI), the vastness and diversity of Asia Pacific and its media landscape felt daunting. In countries like India and Japan, newspapers remain extremely popular. In Korea, news aggregators are the go-to way to get the news. Digital-first media have blossomed in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Malaysia—and been very successful in challenging incumbents.


It quickly became clear that we couldn’t simply adapt GNI programs to Asia Pacific. We had to build programs for the region from scratch, tailored to local news businesses’ needs. 


As our first GNI Impact report shows, we’ve invested $33 million in Asia since March 2018, working with more than 1,000 news partners in 32 countries. That includes financial help provided through the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund, which we launched earlier this year to support publishers through the COVID-19 pandemic.
GNI's impact in APAC

To date, our partnerships in the region have focused on three key areas.


Elevating quality journalism and fighting misinformation


Misinformation in Asian countries isn’t always that sophisticated. Usually it comes in the form of images or videos with a misleading headline, but it can easily and quickly spread in Asia’s mobile-first, highly-connected communities. 


We set out to help tackle this by setting up training initiatives for journalists, equipping them with fact-checking skills and creating networks to foster cooperation between news organizations. Media in Asia are very open to collaboration—they recognize that a stronger news industry comes from working together, through initiatives like Cekfakta, an Indonesian fact-checking coalition uniting 24 media organizations. Across the region, we’ve trained more than 79,000 journalists in person and more than 418,000 online (through the GNI Training Center) since 2015. 


Quality journalism also relies on diverse viewpoints, and we’ve developed programs to promote greater inclusion in newsrooms, including providing career development opportunities for journalists-turned-parents in Korea, and publishing research into diversity in media in Australia.  


At the same time, we know from our discussions with reporters and publishers that efforts to strengthen journalism have to go hand in hand with initiatives to broaden media literacy. Without the support and understanding of the general public, good reporting falls on deaf ears. We’ve provided funding to partners in Hong Kong, India, Southeast Asia and Australia, helping them create locally-relevant media literacy curriculums and organize training for those who need it most.


Helping news businesses grow sustainably


The opportunities for Asia Pacific publishers to access the Internet and experiment with online content vary widely, even within the same country. Internet penetration is almost ubiquitous in places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, and deeply unequal in places like India, Indonesia or Malaysia, where big cities are generally well-connected but remote areas lag behind. Even media organizations that are able to take advantage of the internet often don’t have the skills to make the most of advertising, subscription and data immediately, while some resign themselves to skipping online publishing altogether. 


Our work has to reflect these realities, which is why we’ve launched local News Foundry programs in Japan and Indonesia, helping media get online or improve their digital presence, and set up the GNI APAC Data Labs to help Asian news organizations make better use of data analysis. For bigger publishers like India’s Dainik Jagran and Japan’s ABC TV and The Asahi Shimbun, we’re focused on ensuring they can get the most of digital tools such as Realtime Content Insights and Dynamic Ad Insertion technology. For small- and medium-sized news organizations looking to grow their digital businesses, we’ve opened up the GNI Digital Growth Program, which is available in several Asian languages. 


Supporting new ideas and business models


News organizations in Asia are open to new opportunities. The region’s growth means fresh ideas and unexpected approaches are emerging all the time. 


To harness that spirit, last year, we launched our first GNI Innovation Challenge in Asia Pacific, giving journalists and news organizations the initial support they needed to get their ideas off the ground. We’ve experimented with new formats and tools that are “Asia-first,” like Pinpoint, which was tested by the Philippines’ Rappler. And we’re using technology to help solve the daily challenges Asian newsrooms face. Journalists here are typically always on the go, working from their phones while commuting, instead of sitting at a desk. Tools like Source by Storyful, an image verification mobile app that uses our Cloud technology, are built for their daily realities.


We’ve tested different models for supporting media, and our biggest lesson is that being nimble is vital. We have to be as willing to change and adapt as the media we work with every day. 


What’s next?


Today, some countries in our region are on the path to recovery from COVID-19, while others are still struggling with it. From here, our programs will focus on where we can have the most impact in helping newsrooms work through the pandemic or build beyond it, depending on their individual circumstances. We’re ready to continue playing our part in securing the strong, diverse and creative news industry that Asia Pacific needs and deserves.

Reflecting on our work with Asian newsrooms

When we first launched the Google News Initiative (GNI), the vastness and diversity of Asia Pacific and its media landscape felt daunting. In countries like India and Japan, newspapers remain extremely popular. In Korea, news aggregators are the go-to way to get the news. Digital-first media have blossomed in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Malaysia—and been very successful in challenging incumbents.


It quickly became clear that we couldn’t simply adapt GNI programs to Asia Pacific. We had to build programs for the region from scratch, tailored to local news businesses’ needs. 


As our first GNI Impact report shows, we’ve invested $33 million in Asia since March 2018, working with more than 1,000 news partners in 32 countries. That includes financial help provided through the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund, which we launched earlier this year to support publishers through the COVID-19 pandemic.
GNI's impact in APAC

To date, our partnerships in the region have focused on three key areas.


Elevating quality journalism and fighting misinformation


Misinformation in Asian countries isn’t always that sophisticated. Usually it comes in the form of images or videos with a misleading headline, but it can easily and quickly spread in Asia’s mobile-first, highly-connected communities. 


We set out to help tackle this by setting up training initiatives for journalists, equipping them with fact-checking skills and creating networks to foster cooperation between news organizations. Media in Asia are very open to collaboration—they recognize that a stronger news industry comes from working together, through initiatives like Cekfakta, an Indonesian fact-checking coalition uniting 24 media organizations. Across the region, we’ve trained more than 79,000 journalists in person and more than 418,000 online (through the GNI Training Center) since 2015. 


Quality journalism also relies on diverse viewpoints, and we’ve developed programs to promote greater inclusion in newsrooms, including providing career development opportunities for journalists-turned-parents in Korea, and publishing research into diversity in media in Australia.  


At the same time, we know from our discussions with reporters and publishers that efforts to strengthen journalism have to go hand in hand with initiatives to broaden media literacy. Without the support and understanding of the general public, good reporting falls on deaf ears. We’ve provided funding to partners in Hong Kong, India, Southeast Asia and Australia, helping them create locally-relevant media literacy curriculums and organize training for those who need it most.


Helping news businesses grow sustainably


The opportunities for Asia Pacific publishers to access the Internet and experiment with online content vary widely, even within the same country. Internet penetration is almost ubiquitous in places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, and deeply unequal in places like India, Indonesia or Malaysia, where big cities are generally well-connected but remote areas lag behind. Even media organizations that are able to take advantage of the internet often don’t have the skills to make the most of advertising, subscription and data immediately, while some resign themselves to skipping online publishing altogether. 


Our work has to reflect these realities, which is why we’ve launched local News Foundry programs in Japan and Indonesia, helping media get online or improve their digital presence, and set up the GNI APAC Data Labs to help Asian news organizations make better use of data analysis. For bigger publishers like India’s Dainik Jagran and Japan’s ABC TV and The Asahi Shimbun, we’re focused on ensuring they can get the most of digital tools such as Realtime Content Insights and Dynamic Ad Insertion technology. For small- and medium-sized news organizations looking to grow their digital businesses, we’ve opened up the GNI Digital Growth Program, which is available in several Asian languages. 


Supporting new ideas and business models


News organizations in Asia are open to new opportunities. The region’s growth means fresh ideas and unexpected approaches are emerging all the time. 


To harness that spirit, last year, we launched our first GNI Innovation Challenge in Asia Pacific, giving journalists and news organizations the initial support they needed to get their ideas off the ground. We’ve experimented with new formats and tools that are “Asia-first,” like Pinpoint, which was tested by the Philippines’ Rappler. And we’re using technology to help solve the daily challenges Asian newsrooms face. Journalists here are typically always on the go, working from their phones while commuting, instead of sitting at a desk. Tools like Source by Storyful, an image verification mobile app that uses our Cloud technology, are built for their daily realities.


We’ve tested different models for supporting media, and our biggest lesson is that being nimble is vital. We have to be as willing to change and adapt as the media we work with every day. 


What’s next?


Today, some countries in our region are on the path to recovery from COVID-19, while others are still struggling with it. From here, our programs will focus on where we can have the most impact in helping newsrooms work through the pandemic or build beyond it, depending on their individual circumstances. We’re ready to continue playing our part in securing the strong, diverse and creative news industry that Asia Pacific needs and deserves.

Reflecting on our work with Asian newsrooms

When we first launched the Google News Initiative (GNI), the vastness and diversity of Asia Pacific and its media landscape felt daunting. In countries like India and Japan, newspapers remain extremely popular. In Korea, news aggregators are the go-to way to get the news. Digital-first media have blossomed in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Malaysia—and been very successful in challenging incumbents.


It quickly became clear that we couldn’t simply adapt GNI programs to Asia Pacific. We had to build programs for the region from scratch, tailored to local news businesses’ needs. 


As our first GNI Impact report shows, we’ve invested $33 million in Asia since March 2018, working with more than 1,000 news partners in 32 countries. That includes financial help provided through the Journalism Emergency Relief Fund, which we launched earlier this year to support publishers through the COVID-19 pandemic.
GNI's impact in APAC

To date, our partnerships in the region have focused on three key areas.


Elevating quality journalism and fighting misinformation


Misinformation in Asian countries isn’t always that sophisticated. Usually it comes in the form of images or videos with a misleading headline, but it can easily and quickly spread in Asia’s mobile-first, highly-connected communities. 


We set out to help tackle this by setting up training initiatives for journalists, equipping them with fact-checking skills and creating networks to foster cooperation between news organizations. Media in Asia are very open to collaboration—they recognize that a stronger news industry comes from working together, through initiatives like Cekfakta, an Indonesian fact-checking coalition uniting 24 media organizations. Across the region, we’ve trained more than 79,000 journalists in person and more than 418,000 online (through the GNI Training Center) since 2015. 


Quality journalism also relies on diverse viewpoints, and we’ve developed programs to promote greater inclusion in newsrooms, including providing career development opportunities for journalists-turned-parents in Korea, and publishing research into diversity in media in Australia.  


At the same time, we know from our discussions with reporters and publishers that efforts to strengthen journalism have to go hand in hand with initiatives to broaden media literacy. Without the support and understanding of the general public, good reporting falls on deaf ears. We’ve provided funding to partners in Hong Kong, India, Southeast Asia and Australia, helping them create locally-relevant media literacy curriculums and organize training for those who need it most.


Helping news businesses grow sustainably


The opportunities for Asia Pacific publishers to access the Internet and experiment with online content vary widely, even within the same country. Internet penetration is almost ubiquitous in places like Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, and deeply unequal in places like India, Indonesia or Malaysia, where big cities are generally well-connected but remote areas lag behind. Even media organizations that are able to take advantage of the internet often don’t have the skills to make the most of advertising, subscription and data immediately, while some resign themselves to skipping online publishing altogether. 


Our work has to reflect these realities, which is why we’ve launched local News Foundry programs in Japan and Indonesia, helping media get online or improve their digital presence, and set up the GNI APAC Data Labs to help Asian news organizations make better use of data analysis. For bigger publishers like India’s Dainik Jagran and Japan’s ABC TV and The Asahi Shimbun, we’re focused on ensuring they can get the most of digital tools such as Realtime Content Insights and Dynamic Ad Insertion technology. For small- and medium-sized news organizations looking to grow their digital businesses, we’ve opened up the GNI Digital Growth Program, which is available in several Asian languages. 


Supporting new ideas and business models


News organizations in Asia are open to new opportunities. The region’s growth means fresh ideas and unexpected approaches are emerging all the time. 


To harness that spirit, last year, we launched our first GNI Innovation Challenge in Asia Pacific, giving journalists and news organizations the initial support they needed to get their ideas off the ground. We’ve experimented with new formats and tools that are “Asia-first,” like Pinpoint, which was tested by the Philippines’ Rappler. And we’re using technology to help solve the daily challenges Asian newsrooms face. Journalists here are typically always on the go, working from their phones while commuting, instead of sitting at a desk. Tools like Source by Storyful, an image verification mobile app that uses our Cloud technology, are built for their daily realities.


We’ve tested different models for supporting media, and our biggest lesson is that being nimble is vital. We have to be as willing to change and adapt as the media we work with every day. 


What’s next?


Today, some countries in our region are on the path to recovery from COVID-19, while others are still struggling with it. From here, our programs will focus on where we can have the most impact in helping newsrooms work through the pandemic or build beyond it, depending on their individual circumstances. We’re ready to continue playing our part in securing the strong, diverse and creative news industry that Asia Pacific needs and deserves.

A united front against online piracy in Asia Pacific

With more people staying at home, video streaming is up everywhere—and by as much as 60 percent in Southeast Asia, according to a Media Partners Asia study. That makes it all the more critical that we and our partners in the region continue to address the serious challenge of online piracy.   


Google’s overall approach is set out in our Anti-Piracy Principles, and we work closely with media and entertainment industry organizations to tackle new challenges. Two years ago, we started talking to the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), the trade group for the video ecosystem in Asia, about how we could collaborate. Since then, we’ve been having quarterly forums with their members: broadcasters, operators and telcos. We also make sure AVIA members are aware of new features like What to Watch, to ensure their legitimate content is visible and prominent on the Search results page.


To learn more about online piracy in Asia Pacific (APAC), we spoke to Louis Boswell, CEO of AVIA. 


How does the APAC region differ from others when it comes to broadcast, media and  entertainment?

There are very divergent tastes in content across APAC, which is not surprising given the different cultures and languages. The genres that work best across multiple markets would be a mix of Western, Korean and Chinese content. These genres are widely available, but fragmented over many services, some not mature, and business models vary. In parts of the region, people have never developed a habit of paying for content, so platforms often feel they have to adapt their business models to compete with piracy in a far more pronounced way than in the West. In terms of consumption, many markets are mobile-first.


What role should education play in efforts to fight piracy? Do consumers in the region know how to access legitimate alternatives and why they should choose these options?

Consumer awareness is important to any anti-piracy strategy. Consumers need to know the very real risks they face from malware when accessing piracy sites or using illicit applications. Most people know that what they are accessing is stolen content: in a recent YouGov survey, commissioned by AVIA’s Coalition Against Piracy (CAP), when asked who was most responsible for preventing piracy, Singaporeans chose “the individual, for choosing not to watch pirated content.” There are many legal and reliable video streaming services available in Southeast Asia. Websites that are dedicated to infringement are unreliable, put people at risk of malware infection, and fund crime groups. 


Over the last few years, Google has been a partner of AVIA—working to fight piracy in the region. Why are these types of partnerships worthwhile?

Piracy is an industry-wide problem, and industry needs to come together to fight it. AVIA represents many of the biggest IP owners in the region and Google has the most popular search engine and online video platform, so a couple of years ago we both agreed that it made sense for us to sit down and have a frank and open conversation about the problems of piracy, understand the tools and measures Google is putting in place, and provide a forum for our members to raise concerns that Google may be able to address.


It has been a constructive and collaborative process which has been appreciated on both sides. And it has led to new initiatives, including a workshop AVIA arranged for many of its Asia-based IP creators across India, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia—designed to make better use of Google’s tools for removing infringing content. It’s a positive step that content producers, distributors and industry associations are now working together to address the problems, as well as partnering with technology platforms, payment processors, e-market platforms and other intermediaries.