Google News Showcase in deep water, THIS country launches investigation

Germany`s competition authority has initiated an investigation against Google’s newly launched Showcase platform.

New Delhi: Germany`s competition authority has launched a probe against Google’s newly launched Showcase platform. The showcase platform shows news on Google’s News website. 

While the authority noted that the cooperation with Google could be attractive for publishers and other news providers and offer consumers better information services, the platform doesn’t ensure that there is no discrimination between individual publishers. 

"However, it must be ensured that this does not lead to discrimination between individual publishers," the statement said. 

"Nor must Google`s strong position in access to end customers lead to a crowding out of competing offerings from publishers or other news providers," the authority added in the statement. 

In India, Google launched its Showcase news platform in India with 30 domestic news publishers on May 18. The tech giant had said that it will pay the partnering publishers for their online content and allow them to curate it while allowing users limited access to paywalled stories. It did not reveal further financial details.

"Today`s announcement comes at a particularly challenging moment in India, with Indians seeking out authoritative news and information as the COVID-19 crisis deepens," Google had said in a blog at the time of launch.