What’s All the Fuss About? Google News Initiative

Read all about it - Google wants to rescue newspapers

What is it?

Google’s ambitious plan to “work with the news industry to help journalism thrive in the digital age”. The company is investing $300m (around £215m) in projects to boost the struggling publishing industry.

Why is the news industry in trouble?

It stems from plummeting print sales, as readers turn to the internet for news. To see how sharply they’ve fallen, read this Wikipedia article: www.snipca. com/27336. Between 2010 and 2018 The Sun fell from 3 million to 1.5m; the Daily Mail from 2.1m to 1.3m; and the Daily Telegraph from 691,000 to 385,000.

Newspapers had hoped they would recoup this lost money by charging for content online, but readers have largely been reluctant to pay. They still make money through online adverts, but this is increasingly filling the coffers of Google and Facebook, who by 2020 are expected to take 71 per cent of every pound spent in the UK on digital advertising.

How can Google help?

By developing online tools that make it easier for news publishers to attract readers willing to pay for content. Key to this is ‘Subscribe with Google’, a service that lets readers sign up for content with a single click using payment details they’ve already added to their Google account (see screenshot below). It’s also testing ways to help newspapers identify potential readers, so they can target them with subscription offers.

Ah, so is this another way to grab my data?

Well, there’s no avoiding the fact that most companies now use data for marketing purposes. But Google will be keen to avoid Facebook’s mistakes (see page 11). It sees the launch of the News Initiative as a chance to paint itself as the ‘good guys’, helping traditional and trusted news outlets survive the digital revolution. Any goodwill it gains will be squandered if it leaks masses of personal data. It hopes also to win public confidence by tackling the growth of fake news.

How will it do that?

By improving its search algorithms to give more importance to “authoritative sources” of news. It was stung by criticism last year when it promoted a story that falsely claimed the shooter who killed 58 people in Las Vegas last October was a “far-left loon” who opposed Donald Trump. It has also launched Disinfo Lab to monitor “misinformation” that spreads during elections, and Mediawise - in partnership with US universities and other organisations - to help younger news readers “distinguish fact from fiction online”.

So Google’s motives are genuine?

It certainly sounds heartfelt on the News Initiative site ( https://newsinitiative. withgoogle.com), gushing that it “cares deeply about journalism”. It adds that its mission to “spread knowledge to make life better for everyone” is shared by the news industry.

Isn’t that a bit over the top?

Probably, but Google makes the crucial point that its future is “tied together” with the news industry. Much of what people search for is news related, so Google needs these sites to keep providing content. However, the News Initiative is undoubtedly a sign of Google’s strength. After all, it can spare a mere $300m to ‘take pity’ (as some would see it) on old forms of media. That’s loose change for a company worth $600bn.