In case you’re still looking for more ways to read the news online, we have good news for those living in supported countries. Google is continuing the expansion of its new product Google News Showcase as it has now officially launched in two other countries: Argentina, and the U.K. This is a program that offers publishers licensing for their news content and aims to provide users with local, national, and independent news sources to users. Readers will also be able to access some of the content hidden behind paywalls for publishers that have licensing agreements with them.
In the U.K, Google has already signed deals with some of the most prominent publishers including Archant, DC Thomson, Evening Standard, The Financial Times, Iliffe Media, Reach, The Telegraph, and Reuters. There are actually more than 120 publications that will start curating their content for Google News Showcase in U.K. There are a lot of independent and local newspapers included that have previously not been able to go digital.
In Argentina, Google has signed on around 40 news publications including Clarin, La Nación, Perfil, Infobae, Crónica, Cronista, El Economista, Diario Río Negro, El Día, La Gaceta and El Litoral. These organizations include the two largest newspapers as well as independent, local, and regional news entities. This way, readers will be able to have access to various kinds of news from varying sources that they may have not been reading before.
All in all, Google News Showcase now has more than 450 publications part of its licensing program in more than a dozen countries including Australia, Germany, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, and the aforementioned two new countries. If you live in one of the countries, you’ll be able to see the swipeable story panels that features not just articles but timelines, bullet points, and even video and audio sometime in the future.
One of the major aims of this project is to get hyperlocal and regional content from publishers that do not have the same resources as the bigger players. Google says they aim to bring a “digital transformation” for local content providers that have not had the chance to have one yet.