Google to Start Paying Some News Publishers for Content

Google says it will continue to pay certain publishers for their news content, in a step that may pave the way for decreased friction between the internet search engine and the beleaguered news industry.

The company said it plans to launch a licensing program to pay publishers for "high-quality content" this year, Thursday.

The program will start with local and national publications in Germany, Australia and Brazil, "with more to come soon," Brad Bender, vice president of product management, said in a blog post.

"This program will help participating publishers monetize their content through an enhanced storytelling experience," Bender said, describing it as a "significant step forward" in how the company will support high-quality journalism.

The program's articles will be available on Google News and Discover Services. Google will also pay for users to read paywalled articles.

The tech giant has been battling the news industry 's demands for compensation for years, in a struggle that took on greater significance after the coronavirus pandemic caused advertisement sales to crash among publishers.

In April, France's competition regulator ordered Google to pay publishers for using snippets of their content while Australia unveiled plans to make the company pay fair compensation for journalistic content siphoned from news media.

The first news companies to sign agreements with Google are the German Der Spiegel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, The Zeit, Tagesspiegel and Rheinische Post, the Australian Schwartz Media, The Chat, Private Media and Solstice Radio, and the Brazilian Diarios Associados and A Gazeta.

Source: AP