Google today announced that the Google News Showcase program, which it launched October last, was being extended to India. In the event, Google has tied up with 30 Indian publishers to offer access to some of their content on 'News Showcase'.
Content from the chosen publishers will appear in dedicated, swipeable News Showcase panels in Google News and on Discover pages in English and Hindi. Support for more local languages will be added in the future.
Google has similar deals with 700 news publications in Germany, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, UK, Argentina, Australia, Czechia, and Italy.
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"Starting today, Google News Showcase is rolling out in India with 30 news publishers including national, regional and local news organizations like 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," Brad Bender VP Product Management, News, Google, said in a blog post.
Google is also paying participating news organizations to give readers access to a limited amount of paywalled content.
"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.
Google also announced that under the Google News Initiative (GNI) programme, it will train 50,000 journalists and journalism students in strengthening their digital skills to aid reporting and combat misinformation online.
The GNI Advertising Lab will include training sessions and implementation support to help more than 800 small Indian news organizations grow their digital ad revenue.
With the GNI Digital Growth Programme, Google will offer new business free training workshops in audience development and product innovation.
