Google’s CEO announced Thursday that they will be paying publishers $1 billion over 3 years for their content.
News publishers, especially European groups, have fought with Google in the past, arguing that they should be compensated for the company using their content. Now, a new service called Google News Showcase will be a “different kind of online news experience,” Google CEO Sundar Pichai said according to Reuters.
The product will launch first in Germany and Brazil, where they have already signed up several newspapers to work with them. (RELATED: Google Has Not Explained What Led To A Glitch That Blocked Some Conservative Websites)
Google to pay publishers $1 billion over three years for their news https://t.co/A6O8X4Z0nI pic.twitter.com/Mq5Uji28zX
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 1, 2020
News publishers will now have control over which stories they choose to present.
Pichai called the approach “distinct from our other news products because it leans on the editorial choices individual publishers make about which stories to show readers and how to present them,” Reuters reported.
‘This financial commitment – our biggest to date – will pay publishers to create and curate high-quality content for a different kind of online news experience,” he said.
Some news outlets were enthusiastic about Google’s new product, while others expressed skepticism.
“With News Showcase and the new integration of editorial content like from Spiegel, Google shows that they are serious about supporting quality journalism in Germany,” said Stefan Ottlitz, managing director of the German publisher Spiegel Group. “We are happy to be part of it from the start.” (RELATED: Google, YouTube Will Bar Political Ads During Vote Count)
The European Publishers Council (EPC), whose members include the Guardian, Pearson, the New York Times, and others, was less excited about News Showcase.
“By launching a product, they can dictate terms and conditions, undermine legislation designed to create conditions for a fair negotiation, while claiming they are helping to fund news production,” EPC Executive Director Angela Mills Wade said according to Reuters.
Google also faced criticism from weather websites, recipe tools, and other internet publishers who claim Google has hurt their revenue by paying for news content.