Google is expanding the list of countries where the News Showcase feature is available. The search giant is launching its curated news experience in the Baltic nations: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
As the name suggests, Google creates news panels in various places to showcase stories from participating publishers. Each news panel shows multiple headlines from a single publisher and lets users read the full story on the publisher's website.
News Showcase panels are available on Google News (Android, iOS, Web) and Discover on iOS and Android. Users can swipe left and right on their mobile devices to access news panels of different publishers.
Several media publishers have signed up for the News Showcase feature in the newly added Baltic countries, including 15min, Kas Vyksta, LA/TV24 Group, Latvijas Televīzija, Lietuvos Nacionalinis Radijas ir Televizija, Naujienų centras, Naujosios medijos grupe, Ohtuleht, Postimees, and TVnet Grupa.
Google said in a blog post that the news panels help publishers "deepen their relationships with readers and gives them more direct control of presentation and branding." Several publishers in the newly supported countries have opted for a feature where Google pays for readers' access to a limited number of paywalled articles, with hopes of converting them into potential subscribers.
Google introduced News Showcase several years ago and announced it would invest $1 billion in partnerships with news publishers. The feature kickstarted with 200 leading publications across several countries now has over 2,700 publications in over 30 countries after the latest expansion.
Apart from the showcase panels, Google offered its AI-powered research tools to the outlets. For instance, Lithuania-based Delfi and 15min have been using Pinpoint, which helps journalists analyze large collections of documents.
The latest expansion, which gives publishers more visibility, comes at a time when Google is busy stuffing generative AI in as many places as it can. While the AI might claim the top real estate on Google Search, it might still recommend you should use glue to stick cheese to your pizza.
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