Google floats News Showcase in India

Amid mounting pressure from media houses urging technology platforms to pay a fair price and share a part of the advertising revenue for featuring articles, Google on Tuesday launched its global licensing programme, News Showcase, in India.

The initiative, rolled out last October, pays publishers for news content and allows them to provide limited access to pay-walled stories for users.

Showcase is part of Google’s $1-billion investment to support quality journalism.

Google has sealed agreements with 30 Indian publishers to offer access to some of their content such as HT Digital Streams Ltd, The Hindu Group, Indian Express Group, ABP LIVE, India TV, NDTV, Zee News, Amar Ujala, Deccan Herald, Punjab Kesari, The Telegraph India, Indo Asian News Service (IANS) and Asian News International (ANI).