Google announced it will pay publishers around $1 billion for news over the next three years. The announcement was made by Google chief executive Sundar Pichai in a blog post on Thursday, reports CNBC.
“I have always valued quality journalism and believed that a vibrant news industry is critical to a functioning democratic society,” Pichai said.
News Corp. chief executive Robert Thomson said:
“We applaud Google’s recognition of a premium for premium journalism and the understanding that the editorial eco-system has been dysfunctional, verging on dystopian.
“There are complex negotiations ahead but the principle and the precedent are now established.”
The funding by Google aims to allow publishers to create and curate content for a new mobile product called Google News Showcase, which will initially go live in Brazil and Germany before it is launched in other countries.
Pichai said:
“The business model for newspapers — based on ads and subscription revenue — has been evolving for more than a century as audiences have turned to other sources.
“The internet has been the latest shift, and it certainly won’t be the last … We want to play our part by helping journalism in the 21st century.”
