Google will soon pay partner publishers to provide access to paywalled news

In a blogpost on Wednesday, Google announced that it would “soon start offering people access to paywalled content in partnership with select news publishers”.

This is part of the company's "Google News Showcase" which was launched in October, a product that claims to "feature the editorial curation of award-winning newsrooms" and "help publishers develop deeper relationships with their audiences".

In its post, Google said it would "pay participating partners to provide limited access to paywalled content for News Showcase users. In return, users will register with the news publisher, providing a way for the publisher to build a relationship with readers."

The company said that "close to 400 news publications" have signed up since Google News Showcase was launched two months ago.

Google and other companies like Facebook had been locked in conflict over being asked to pay media companies for using their news. In Australia, for instance, a proposed News Media Bargaining Code will require Google and Facebook to pay for news, in a bid to "lessen the power imbalance between quality media outlets and social media".