This war against fake news also includes starting a platform that will help manage reader subscriptions.
This announcement comes as other giant social media websites face criticism on fake news, most particularly in the 2016 elections.
The search giant announced that they are committing $300 million in the course of three years towards initiatives and products that will ensure quality and reliable news as well as help digital news publishers earn more revenue. They dubbed it the Google News Initiative.
Fighting the spread of fake news is obviously on their top priority. The company says they are improving their system to recognise reliable breaking news and adjusting towards displaying more accurate results.
Google has also partnered with First Draft in an program called Disinfo Lab. Their aim is to prevent fake news during elections and breaking news.
Another program, called MediaWise has also been launched to help young readers improve their digital media literacy. This program is in partnership with Go Poynter Institute, Stanford University, and the Local Media Association.
Another newly-launched initiative is Subscribe with Google.
This platform will put all of Google’s collaborations with news agencies in one roof. The search giant says its purpose is to “help build a stronger future for news”. Basically, this lets you buy a subscription using your Google account, on participating news sites.
You select a publisher that you like and click “Subscribe”. Secure payments are made to Google with any credit cards that you’ve used with the company. From then on, you can use “Sign In with Google” to access all of your subscriptions.
Their launch partners in the news industry include The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Financial Times,The Telegraph USA TODAY NETWORK. Les Échos, Fairfax Media, Le Figaro, and others also in on the team. For the full list of publications, click here.
