Stephen Silver
Google is launching a new initiative to make it easier for users to subscribe to their favorite news sites, without leaving the service, or engaging in a lengthy sign-up process.
The new Subscribe With Google allows users to subscribe to specific news sites with their Google accounts, with Google managing the billing directly. And once users are logged in to Google they will remain logged in to all of their favorite subscription sites.
Google's Jim Albrecht, the product management director, announced the initiative in a blog post Tuesday.
Partners at launch include The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Gannett, McClatchy and Gatehouse Media in the U.S., as well as various other publications- Les Ochos, Fairfax Media, Le Figaro, the Financial Times, Grupo Globo, The Mainichi, La Nacion, NRC Media, Le Parisien, Reforma, la Republica and The Telegraph- in other parts of the world. Among the sites missing from the list is the paywalled Wall Street Journal.
"Paying for a subscription is a clear indication that you value and trust your subscribed publication as a source," Albrecht wrote.
The blog post paints the effort as a culmination of Google's efforts to understand its place in the news ecosystem of today, and Apple has been considering them as well. The Subscribe With Google initiative will also have Google search component.
"So we'll also highlight those sources across Google surfaces, beginning with a dedicated module on Search," said Albrecht in the blog post. "When you search for a news topic for which your subscribed publication has relevant results, 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 his recent talk at South by Southwest in Austin, Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue discussed the topic at length, in talking about Apple News and the recent acquisition of Texture, which had been announced that morning. Cue made clear that Apple favors "in-depth" news, while not necessarily giving consumers the news they want.
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17 Comments
No thanks, I only use google out of obligation.
If Apple has an alternative thats where I'm headed.
And let me guess--Google will be harvesting what everyone reads and comments on, etc., to add to your "universal identifier" of emails, driving, searches, documents, photos, etc. Google is evil and some day the masses will wake up to the massive dossiers they are trying to build on every citizen of the world and that is accessible to hackers, intel agencies, governments, etc.
As long as it’s a voluntary choice I’m ok with this. You should know what the price is they pay. However I can imagine a not so distant future where this “convenient service” is the standard, followed by only option to pay. Same in your favorite coffee shop. Supermarket transportation. TV. Medicine.
I think I’m old fashioned :)
The value of the personal data collected is what drives the price of Google, Facebook and their ilk. I prefer to not make it quite so easy for them to profile me, although I end up leaving my fingerprints all over the web despite of my efforts. Why take their shortcut when they just turn around and sell you?
If I buy a magazine or subscribe to the NYT, it comes with the ads that are targeted to the people who are attracted to buy that magazine/paper and read its content. They might sell their subscription list to others but they can't spy on me and know which articles I read and which ads (if any), that I might be drawn to. I like it that way and I appreciate that Apple has not made data harvesting the keystone of their business model.