Google rolls out New Showcase across Canada; announces new partnerships

In addition to connecting readers with the most relevant and useful information, Google is also adding the ability for them to access select paywalled content.

Google today announced the roll-out of News Showcase across Canada in two languages - French and English. The program supports news publishers that are invested in comprehensive current events journalism in the public interest.

Additionally, the company is partnering with Les coops de l’Information, Le Devoir and Torstar in Canada.

"Google News Showcase offers us new opportunities to bring the quality local journalism we produce to more readers. Ultimately, this new partnership with Google will help us produce even more relevant and useful content to the benefit of our communities," said Stephane Lavallee, Managing Director of Les Coops de l'information.

Google News Showcase enables publishers to curate their high-quality content on Google News and Discover and all clicks on the articles go directly to the publisher's website.

In addition to connecting readers with the most relevant and useful information, Google is also adding the ability for them to access select paywalled content. This will give readers the opportunity to read more of a publisher’s content than they would otherwise have access to, while enabling publishers to incentivize more readers to become subscribers.

Google will also be training 5,000 Canadian journalists and journalism students on strengthening digital skills in newsrooms. Apart from this, the company is expanding its business-oriented workshops for small and mid-sized news organizations in Canada.

Recently, the Google News Initiative (GNI), in partnership with LION Publishers, launched its first Startups Boot Camp to support aspiring Canadian news entrepreneurs. Applications for the eight-week fully remote program until November 14, 2021.

"All these efforts represent a collaborative effort between Google and publishers in Canada to contribute to quality journalism in this country. We're here to support Canadian newsrooms, big and small, so that news can thrive in Canada for years to come," Sabrina Geremia, Vice President & Country Manager, Google Canada, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday.