Google promises more money and more exposure for local news

Google will start paying local publications in the US to give readers access to some of their paywalled content.

Google says it will start doing more to help local media outlets on its News app. On Thursday, the search giant announced it would provide more funding to local publications, as well as roll out new features to help users discover local stories.

One change is in the Google News mobile feed, on both Android and iPhone, where it’s tweaking the Following tab to ensure that stories from local outlets appear more frequently. This will let users get updates from specific topics, sources, and locations. The revamped tab will become available on Android “soon” and on iOS later this year.

Additionally, Google is bringing its News Showcase to the US, which involves Google paying local publishers in the US to offer readers access to some of their paywalled stories. According to Google, this should encourage readers “to learn more about the publication — and potentially subscribe.” Google has already launched News Showcase in 22 countries outside the US, including Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Japan, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

So far, Google says it has partnered with over 150 news publications in 39 states throughout the US, with over 90 percent of them being local or regional. That includes California’s Oaklandside, Illinois’ La Raza, Florida’s Orlando Weekly, and more. As noted by Google, journalists will be able to choose which stories to put in their News Showcase panels and “add useful context to help readers understand key issues.” These panels will then appear in Google News and Discover.

Google has long had a contentious relationship with news publishers. For years, outlets have criticized Google and Facebook for displaying their news on both platforms without compensation. Publishers have also taken issue with Google’s unpopular AMP format for webpages, with multiple lawsuits accusing the company of soaking up ad revenue that should’ve gone to publishers.