Last month saw Daily Mail publisher DMGT sign up to Google News Showcase, meaning all major UK publishers are now enrolled in the programme, whereby Google pays publishers for content featured on its news pages. But the initiative has not been without its critics, who accuse Google of negotiating unfair terms for publishers, and attempting to avoid legislation that would force the tech giant to pay publishers more for news content.
But those enrolled in the scheme report a two-sided relationship with proven benefits to publishers. For instance Reach – the UK publishing group whose titles include the Mirror, Express and Daily Star – has seen its referrals from Google News Showcase climb from 129,000 in July 2021 (a few months into the programme) to 145 million in January 2023. “It’s our fourth biggest referrer now of traffic in terms of pageviews,” says Daniel Russell, Head of Social Media and Engagement and Google Showcase Editor at Reach.
Google pays the publisher to create daily panels, which appear on the Google News feed and its mobile-only product Google Discover. There are different panels available – ranging from a headline and a few paragraphs of text, to three headlines with accompanying images – linking to the full story on the publisher’s website.
“We rely heavily on referral traffic for audience,” adds Mark Thompson, Digital Content Director at National World, which owns The Scotsman, Yorkshire Post and other regional titles. “Off-site content is just as important as on-site content. It’s all about how many users can you pull across to either get people to come to your website, or put your content on other people’s websites that will drive revenue. And I think all publishers have to do a mix of those two things to be successful. I think the days of just having a website, and ‘If we build it, they will come,’ are dead.”
Balancing act
As mentioned, Google’s relationship with news publishers has proven controversial in various markets. Attempts to pass laws requiring tech giants to compensate publishers have been stonewalled by Google in Australia, Canada and Spain, where the company made Google News unavailable for seven years. Market regulators in France and Germany have also investigated Google’s terms, ultimately securing fairer payment commitments from the search giant. In Canada the dispute is ongoing, with Google executives called in front of legislators after blocking access to news.
“The internet is still evolving,” comments Thompson of National World. “We all see it as being around for a long time now because we’re all so used to it, but actually it’s still a very new thing. And Google have obviously played a big part in the formation of how the internet works, and how people use it.
“However, I am of the opinion that we’ll always be seeking a fairer deal, whether it’s Google, Facebook or other platforms,” he continues. “We’ve got to fight our corner constantly, and make sure that we have a fair piece of the pie, particularly on the advertising side. It’s a balancing act; I work with Google but at the same time I also want to drive revenue to support our journalism.”
“I will be pushing to get more money from Google when our contract renewal is up,” agrees Reach’s Russell, noting that Google will also be negotiating as in any business transaction. “There’ll be a number the publishing industry thinks that Google or Meta or whoever should pay, and then there’s a number that Google thinks the publishing industry is worth to them – and those numbers are not the same number.” He notes that this figure will also vary by market, hence the back-and-forth in different countries.
Wish list
The issue of prominence further complicates the relationship between news publishers and tech platform. Indeed, Google News Showcase allows the content providers to create large, visually appealing panels to attract readers and drive traffic to their website. But the internet is governed first and foremost by algorithm, thus prioritising populist content on news feeds.
“This may mean that exclusives, investigations and local news stories might not get the prominence on people’s feeds that perhaps we feel they need,” argues Thompson. “Most people will go to Google or Facebook or other platforms, and they’ll see a lot of Martin Lewis stories, for example, because it works in terms of audience. At the same time, if we have an investigation about a council that’s been taking crooked payments, that may not necessarily reach as large an audience as that Martin Lewis piece. That’s one thing I’d want to change, is how do we get greater prominence for really strong, powerful journalism.”
On that Google News Showcase wish list, Russell adds that video would enhance the product, currently limited to text and images. “It would make sense for there to be a video option at some point,” he explains. “My view is if you do story on a video, let’s show the video, because you’ve got to factor in the user experience.” This would also add another revenue opportunity with the inclusion of pre-roll advertising.
Working relationships
That said, both publishers are positive about the support Google give them, both within Showcase and as part of the broader relationships they have with the tech firm. “We can talk to them at any time if there’s a problem, and they often want feedback about how they can improve the product,” says Russell. “As we go forward, the more big tech and publishing can work together, the better. Not all big tech is now doing that unfortunately, but this is a space where it is happening, and we are involved in the conversation which is really important.”
At its best, Showcase forms the working part of an often uneasy relationship. “There’s a lot of negativity around it, I understand it, and I agree with some of it,” concludes Russell. “But overall I’m happy with it. It gives us money to employ journalists; we’ve got a team curating these panels, that team wouldn’t be there if the product wasn’t there.”
“Journalism isn’t cheap,” agrees Thompson. “We need to have our own advertising, and if Google and Facebook are going to have a big slice of the advertising pie, they need to support us for the content that we produce for their platforms.”
