Subscribe With Google Makes A Lot Of Sense For Some News
Subscribe with Google was introduced today to bring online newspaper subscriptions into Google's warm embrace. The announcement was made by Google's Jim Albrecht, Project Management Director for Subscribe with Google. "Today we're announcing Subscribe with Google," said Albrecht, "the simple way to subscribe to news publications and maintain access everywhere: websites, apps, even search results."
Online subscriptions to newspapers provided a way for publications to attain revenue without 100% reliance on online ads. Some publications went so far as to offer their subscription-only services without any advertisements at all. It would appear that Google is seizing the opportunity to keep that news-related money in the fold by plugging a "Sign In with Google" button in with several major publishers as such.
Google's worked with several major subscription-based publications to allow users to use their Google account to pay for said subscriptions. Connecting to these publications in this way sends a signal to Google that the user trusts said news source. Once that signal is sent, Google will highlight search results and Google feed news stories from that source whenever the opportunity should arise.
The few news companies that've teamed up with Google on this front so far have run the Sign In with Google button through their websites and apps, too. It makes for a rather simple system, especially for those that'd already been subscribing to news services online – or had planned on doing so.
The first group of news groups that've worked with Google will have new subscription sign-ins working soon. The first batch includes Les Échos, Fairfax Media, Le Figaro, the Financial Times, Gannett, Gatehouse Media, Grupo Globo, The Mainichi, McClatchy, La Nación, The New York Times, NRC Group, Le Parisien, Reforma, la Republica, The Telegraph, and The Washington Post. More publishers will be joining soon, as well.
Once the service is live, subscriptions will appear across Google. Perhaps the most important place news stories will begin to appear is through the Google Search app. There, a new "module" will appear. "When you search for a news topic for which your subscribed publication has relevant results," said Albrecht, "We'll showcase these so they're easy for you to see and access—without disrupting search ranking for the rest of the page."
In combatting the "Fake News" issue, this is an OK effort. In making certain Google gets a cut of that sweet, sweet subscription revenue from publishers, this effort is amazing. Now, if only there were a sort of service or app that'd allow me to get a set of feeds of my favorite news sources all in one place... something like... a Google.... Reader?