Showcase arrives in France to revolutionize online news. Google has just launched its program, accessible today on its website dedicated to information. In addition to a new, more comprehensive design, the solution will allow Internet users to access articles that are usually hidden behind a paywall for free.
We can’t really say that Google has always had peaceful relations with the French press. We remember in particular that in 2020, the firm had come into conflict with the authorities, who then ordered it to pay the French media to be able to display extracts from their articles in News. Today, it seems that the two parties have finally reconciled. From this agreement Showcase was born.
After two years of deployment throughout the world, and an arrival in Europe in particular by Germany, Showcase is therefore launched today with great fanfare in France. The program promises to revolutionize the way Internet users consume news, both through a bold design and through access to certain paid articles. We summarize everything that will change from today.
What is Showcase, Google’s new news solution?
Showcase is above all a new way for the press to highlight its articles. In a new tab on its News website (and in the Newsstand section of the application) there are therefore new panels, each dedicated to a media. It is then up to the latter to select a handful of articles that will be displayed on the page, thus offering a global overview of the news to readers.
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It is also possible for the media to select a single article and to accompany it with two sub-parts in the form of a bullet, in order to give an overall summary of information. Finally, last possibility, an article can be put forward alongside two other papers related to the subject addressed. Thus, the objective is quite clear: to give greater readability to partner media than in the other News tabs, thus giving them a chance to stand out from the competition.
Precisely, who are these partners? Google announces that it has signed contracts with no less than 65 publishers, representing a total of 130 media. Among the latter, we find in particular major newsrooms such as Le Monde, Liberation, Les Échos, Le Figaro, and even Le Parisien. For the latter, this agreement makes it possible to obtain constant remuneration from Google. It is with the counterpart of this remuneration that readers have the most to gain.
Google and the French press offer free paid articles with Showcase
Indeed, Showcase has a significant advantage for Internet users. To appear in the tab, newsrooms will have to offer articles normally found behind a paywall. Be careful however, it is not a question of completely eradicating paid content from the online press: only a handful of articles, carefully selected by the media, will be accessible free of charge.
Still, this will allow many readers to gain access to information that could previously have been closed to them. And to make them want to subscribe to a subscription, according to Google, which certainly advanced this argument to convince the editorial staff who signed the agreement. We will note a certain vagueness concerning sponsored content, which should logically not appear in Showcase.
However, Google does not exclude the possibility and leaves it up to the media to decide whether they have a place in their panel or not. Anyway, Showcase is already a worldwide success. According to the Mountain View company, 4.5 million panels have already been created, generating no less than 3.5 million clicks from readers.