In a move meant to blunt escalating European Union action against Google’s marketplace dominance, Google will tomorrow announce a $150 million partnership, to be spent over three years, in support of something called the Digital News Initiative (DNI), I’ve learned through several confidential sources.
...At least seven major European publishers have signed on to the initiative. They includeThe Financial Times, The Guardian, Italy’s La Stampa, France’s Les Echoes, Germany’sZeit, Spain’s El Païs and Netherlands’ N.R.C. Organizers consider the program an “open” one, so expect more publishers to join as well. It is a distinctly Eurocentric initiative, with no U.S.-based publishers as initial signatories, though the architects of the initiative expect its fruits to be globally useful for new companies.
...1) $150 million Google commitment toward news innovation. That’s, of course, the stream that will catch the most attention. The work will focus on product and platform improvement.
2) A “Product Council,” made up of publishers, will give direction to the initiative.
3) Google will also fund Reuters to widen news research in Europe. Expect to see more Europe-centric news research, à la the kind of analytic insights offered by the Pew Research Center in the U.S.
