News Corp, Google Agree to Landmark Deal to Pay for News

Google has signed a landmark deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to pay for journalism from its global news sites.

Financial terms of the multi-year deal were not disclosed, but the agreement will see News Corp publications including The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s in the U.S. and The Times and The Sunday Times in the U.K. joining Google News Showcase. The global search giant is in negotiations with other publishers to similarly pay a fee for premium news content that would be part of its free news offering.

The three-year deal with News Corp also includes developing a subscription platform, sharing ad revenue via Google’s ad technology services, creating audio journalism and investing in video journalism by YouTube.

“I would like to thank Sundar Pichai and his team at Google who have shown a thoughtful commitment to journalism that will resonate in every country,” Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp, said of the deal.

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is set to unveil similar licensing deals with rival Australian media groups to ease a stand off with the federal government to pay for premium journalism content generated in Australia.