Google To Launch News Showcase This Summer

Google said a long-delayed product that pays news publishers to feature their content would launch in the U.S. this summer, part of what the company said is an effort to support media outlets, reports The Wall Street Journal. 

The coming debut of the product, called Google News Showcase, comes as various countries around the world have passed or are considering legislation to help publishers get payments from technology companies—including Google and Facebook parent Meta Platforms META 0.37%increase; green up pointing triangle—for featuring their content. 

Showcase was announced in 2020 and has since been introduced in more than 20 countries but had yet to debut in the U.S. amid stalled efforts to negotiate with some publishers. 

The company said Showcase would feature more than 150 U.S. news publications, including local outlets such as the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota and Orlando Weekly in Florida, as well as larger new outlets such as the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal.

Google didn’t say how much money U.S. publishers were being paid as part of the partnership.  

Google has faced criticism in recent years from executives at major news organizations—including Wall Street Journal parent News Corp—for using news content in its products without paying the publishers that provide it.

News Corp reached a global multiyear deal with Google in 2021. The media company said the deal and other tech tie-ups would generate a combined annual revenue of more than $100 million, the Journal previously reported. Beyond the Journal, News Corp owns news organizations in Australia and the U.K., as well as Barron’s, MarketWatch and the New York Post in the U.S.

The New York Times recently signed a deal with Google, including Showcase, that will pay it around $100 million a year over three years, the Journal reported.

The rise of Google and Facebook as digital-advertising behemoths has had a significant impact on the media industry, leaving publishers grappling with increased competition for ad revenue and attention. Both Google and Meta have explored ways to compensate publishers, and Showcase is part of that effort.