Tech giant Google is going to pay more than $1 billion dollars over the next three years to news publishers in an effort to keep a struggling industry afloat.
The agreement in place gives Google the license to publish news stories from over 200 publishers across the nation and the world, as the news industry continues to try and level off massive advertising revenue losses brought on by the pandemic. The deal was first announced back in June.
Google will roll out a new feature called News Showcase, and as part of the agreement, publishers will have the power to choose what content they want to show and how they want it presented. Some articles that may be behind a paywall on a particular publication’s webpage will be available for free.
News Showcase will first debut in Brazil. There is no timetable for when users in the United States can expect to have access to the new feature.
Google has entered agreements with publishers in Europe, North America, South America and Australia. At first launch, text and photos will be available. Google has stated audio and video will be available at a later date.
