Google rolls out Google News Showcase programme in India

Google on Tuesday announced extending the Google News Showcase programme in India. The company has partnered with 30 news publishing, including national, regional, and local news organisations. Some of the partner content publishers are The Hindu Group, HT Digital Streams Ltd, Indian Express Group, ABP LIVE, India TV, NDTV, Zee News, Amar Ujala, Deccan Herald, Punjab Kesari, The Telegraph India, IANS (Indo Asian News Service) and ANI.

Google’s new programme builds on the ongoing News Showcase deals it has signed with 700 news publications in more than a dozen countries, including Germany, Canada, the UK, Australia, Italy, Japan, Brazil, and Argentina. The company says it is in talks with publishers in several other countries as well.

Google will now show content from its partner publishers in dedicated News Showcase panels on Google News and Discover. It includes both English and Hindi languages. The company plans to add more languages in the coming days.

Another important aspect of the partnership is that Google is paying participating news organisations to give readers access to a limited amount of paywalled content.

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“This feature means readers will have the opportunity to read more of a publisher’s articles than they would otherwise be able to while deepening readers’ relationships with publishers and encouraging them to subscribe,” Google said in a blog post.

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Apart from the launch of the News Showcase programme, Google said it is expanding its Google News Initiative efforts in India as well. As part of the expanded efforts, Google said it will train at least 50,000 journalists and journalism students. It will include programmes on using digital tools to detect misinformation online.

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Google has also launched new programmes to assist small and mid-sized publications financial sustainability as part of the GNI Digital Growth Programme. You can learn more about the initiative here.