Google will pay select news publishers for journalistic content as part of a new licensing program. This content will be available on Google News later this year. In some cases, the company will pay for content behind a paywall.
In a blog post, Google states that it will pay for “high-quality journalistic content.” The company is currently in talks with publishers from Germany, Brazil and Australia, but says more participants will follow in the future. Current partners include Der Spiegel from Germany and Solstice Media from Australia. Google has not yet disclosed how much the company will pay for the content.
Google says the program should help media companies monetize their messages. The company says it wants to pay for ‘high-quality content’. In addition, Google will in certain cases pay for content placed behind a paywall so that its users can read these articles free of charge.
Google’s announcement comes after several countries have taken steps to make the company pay for the news items Google links to in its News service. In France, for example, the company is already obliged to pay media companies for using such news items. Earlier this year, the French competition authority stated that the journalistic sector suffered damage as a result of Google’s working method. Australia has a similar plan to make tech companies pay for news content.