New Delhi: The Google News Initiative has launched a new partnership with five news associations to provide financial grants and training to nearly 1,000 local publications across the US.
“This funding will help local publishers overcome technical challenges, and build strategies and tactics for audience growth, individual giving and sponsorship revenue,” Google said in a blog post on Thursday.
Later this summer, the tech giant will launch a ‘News Showcase’ in the US in partnership with more than 150 news publications, 90 percent of which will be local or regional.
The company first launched the News Showcase licensing program and product experience for news organizations in 2020 and has since expanded to 22 countries globally with more than 2,300 participating publications.
With News Showcase, journalists select important stories to include in their curated News Showcase panels and add useful context to help readers understand key issues.
The panels then appear in Google News and Discover, sending readers directly to full articles on the publisher’s website. According to the company, this helps publishers deepen the relationship with their audiences and gives them more direct control over presentation and branding.
In addition, the company is updating the Following tab on Google News to allow local publications to be featured more frequently on Google News and give readers an easier way to find the news that matters to them.
This tab will bring readers the latest updates from sources and locations they choose, such as their favorite hobby, publication or their hometown, on topics.
The updated Follow feature will soon be available globally on Android and then expand to iOS later this year.
In the coming weeks, Google said it will launch a new Surveys feature that will help publishers ask their readers questions to better understand their audiences and interests, so they can offer more relevant content and ads. .