Google News Showcase launches with ACM, Private Media, The Conversation and more

Google News Showcase has launched in Australia, paying a first round of mastheads – owned by Australian Community Media (ACM), Private Media, Schwartz Media, Solstice Media and The Conversation – for news through licence deals that will last at least three years.

The launch, which was foreshadowed last week after originally being halted when the draft News Media Bargaining Code was released, suggests a softening of Google’s campaign against the code. Mumbrella understands Showcase would ideally sit under a revised code and allow publishers to progress to arbitration should disagreements arise.

Google has maintained the current code asks it to pay for links, which the company has signalled is reason enough to withdraw its search function from Australia should it be enacted without modification. But the launch and three-year licensing deals, initially struck last year, indicate a long term investment in local content and the local market.