Google is investing big in the digital news industry today. The company is announcing its new Google News Initiative, part of which will involve the company investing $300 million into the industry over the next three years.

The goal of Google News Initiative is to fight fake news and help digital journalism grow. Google says the company is working to fight fake news and the spread of disinformation within its own platform, as well as working with publications like First Draft to fight fake news. Google is also launching a new tool that makes safer for news organizations and journalists to access the internet and protect their privacy.

To further expand its commitment to the industry, Google is launching a new Subscribe with Google program today. The new subscription system will enable news publications to offer simpler subscription systems based on the platform provided by Google. This means publications won’t have to deal with all the problems of setting up payment systems, and they will instead work with Google’s own system, which means the subscription process will be instant for existing Google customers. Subscribing to news sites with Google will also deliver posts and news from your subscription right to your Google News Feed as well.

Google’s huge investment of $300 million is critical for the news industry. With Facebook failing to build a sustainable relationship with publishers because of the recent changes to the News Feed as well as a lot of other recent fumbles and controversies, Google’s new News Initiative could help the company support and possibly dominate the digital news industry. But that all depends upon the publishers, and whether they really want to give Google control over their reader base.

Tagged with Google News, Google News Initiative, Subscribe with Google