Google waives Ad serving fees for news publishers for 5 months

Google has announced that it will relinquish a particular charge for news publishers around the world as the Google News Initiative is working to identify ways to provide immediate financial support to the journalism industry. The move is meant to help online publishers through the economic slowdown caused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Mashable, Google is not going to charge news publishers all around the world with serving fees on Ad Manager for the next five months, as per the blog announcement. Google said it will be informing its news partners over the next few days about the details and requirements of the program and even "what they can expect to see in their account statements."

Google's Jason Washing, the Managing Director of Global Partnerships - News, said: "During times of global crisis, people rely on quality journalism to stay informed and safe. And the ads that appear alongside news coverage help fund the journalists who write breaking news stories, and keep news sites and apps running."

The applicants are supposed to meet various requirements like 12 months of online presence and operations with about 2 to 100 employees. According to Google, the applications will be selected "by teams of Google staff who have knowledge and experience in digital publishing and journalism." The application period for the initiative has been live and closes on April 29, 2020.

( With inputs from ANI )