Google signs licensing deals with multiple Canadian news outlets

Following a similar announcement from Facebook Inc. and promises from Heritage Minister Stephen Guilbeault to introduce legislation requiring compensation for news organizations’ content appearing on online platforms, Alphabet Inc.’s Google announced Thursday it has signed agreements with several Canadian news publishers for a new program. Google said in a release Thursday that participating news groups, including The Globe and Mail and Black Press Media, signed up to take part in “Google News Showcase,” a product and licensing program that allows newsrooms to curate their content for readers across the Google News app and its Discover panels. “These deals will help support Canadian newsrooms that provide comprehensive general-interest news to the communities they serve. This long-term investment will support news organizations in producing, distributing and explaining essential information to readers,” Google said. In a blog post explaining Google News Showcase, the company said “readers get more insight on the stories that matter to them with curated story panels across several Google services,” and that “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,” Google said. It noted that participating publishers receive a fixed monthly fee for curating their articles on News Showcase, and in some cases providing access beyond their paywalls. The remainder of the “first Canadian partners” for News Showcase announced Thursday are Glacier Media, Métro Média, Narcity Media, the SaltWire Network, Village Media, and the Winnipeg Free Press. “We work closely with news outlets to determine the right amount of content to share to help drive subscriptions as users experience the benefits of subscribing to authoritative news outlets,” Google said. There is some crossover between the companies Google has signed on and those taking part in a “News Innovation Test” by Facebook. Facebook announced in May it has agreements with 14 publishers to take part in “a new initiative to help promote a healthy news ecosystem, elevate authoritative journalism, and deliver a valuable experience for people on Facebook who are interested in news,” it said in a release at the time. Facebook’s agreements are with blogTO, Canada’s National Observer, The Coast, La coopérative nationale de l’information indépendente, Daily Hive, Le Devoir, Discourse Media, FP Newspapers, Narcity, The Narwhal, the SaltWire Network, The Sprawl, The Tyee, and Village Media. The social media giant will pay those publishers for the ability to link to additional news stories not already posted on Facebook, “helping us experiment with ways to enhance the experience for people on the platform who are looking for trusted Canadian news about important topics” the company said. According to Google, it has signed deals for News Showcase with nearly 800 publications around the world, with more than 90% representing local or regional news. In its announcement Thursday, Google said it will train 5,000 Canadian journalists and journalism students over the next three years “on strengthening digital skills in newsrooms -- a five-times increase from the 1,000 journalists we’ve already trained to date.” The company also said it will be running a third edition of its North American Google News Innovation Challenge to fund certain projects “focused on helping local publishers think about new ways to understand, enhance and serve the needs of their communities,” with applications currently open.

Google signs licensing deals with multiple Canadian news outlets

Brief | June 24, 2021

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