Google News Showcase coming to the US and updates to follow tab on Google News

Google News Showcase is coming to the US this summer; this is after launching News Showcase in October 2020. Google also made updates to the follow tab on Google News and has re-announced the launch of Google Reader Revenue Manager which we covered back in April.

Google News Showcase in US. Google said the Google News Showcase is coming to the US this summer. This includes partnerships with more than 150 US-based news publications, 90% of them local or regional, Google said. Google News Showcase has now expanded to 22 countries globally with more than 2,300 participating publications.

Follow tab on Google News. Google is also updating the follow tab on Google News, to help “local publications surface more frequently on Google News and give readers an easier way to nd the news that maers to them,” Google wrote.

The new and updated Follow feature will be available globally on Android soon and then expand to iOS later this year, Google said.

Here is what it looks like, you can see the follow button in the footer of the Google News app:

Reader Revenue Manager. Google also re-announced the Google Reader Revenue Manager which we covered back in April. This helps publishers increase engagement by highlighting their content to readers. This is part of the Google Publisher Center, where you can control how readers can subscribe to your content and pay for your content.

A new survey feature is coming to Reader Revenue Manager that helps publishers ask their readers questions to help then better understand their demographic profile and interests, so publishers can serve more relevant content and advertisements.

Google said U.S., Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru, with the Asia-Pacic markets and other additional regional launches to follow later this summer.

Why we care. In addition to the new investments in news publications, these new features can help publishers gain more visibility, increase revenues and understand their audiences. The News Showcase never been in the US, so it will be new for many of us here in the states.