Google has launched a 150-Million-Euro fund for news publisher's digital projects. According to the search giant, the funding will have no strings attached, but we're guessing the publishers will investigate this given recent strained ties.
This fund can be tapped by European digital news outlets when developing new projects for the web. News outlets that may require large-scale grants would first need to seek approval from a 13-member council which includes the likes of Telegraph chief Murdoch MacLennan. We understand that the rules will apply to all, and that no one should be able to take advantage of the funds in a way that does not fall under the terms and conditions.
Google first made its intention known to launch this fund back in April as part of the company's Digital News Initiative. This is aimed at improving the not-so good relationship between European digital news outlets and the search giant.
According to Google, it will award the funds over a three-year period, which means digital news agencies will gain access to €50 million (around $55,517,500) every year for the next three years. As stated above, there's no strings attached, and no requirements to use Google products.
"The ambition and intent of the Fund is bold: to spark new thinking, which could come from anywhere in the news ecosystem, to give news organisations - of all sizes - the space to try some new things. We've set aside up to €150 million (around $166,552,500) for that purpose, which we'll make available in the form of no-strings-attached awards over the next three years," says Google.
With this large sum of cash, news start-ups along with well-established companies can pave the way for new innovations along with the possibility of coming up with new ways to read news content on the web.
At the moment, Google has over 120 news organizations as part of the project from across the European Union. However, at the moment, we're not certain if the search giant intends to allow others to join the fray in the future.
