Google looks to make major changes to News service

Google is considering significant changes to its controversial Google News service to aid publishers that have been struggling to make money in the online world, according to one of the company's senior executives in Europe.

The comments, made in an interview with the Financial Times by Carlo D'Asaro Biondo, head of strategic partnerships in Europe, came as Google and nine European newspaper groups announced an alliance aimed at bolstering the digital skills and business model of publishers.

Known as the Digital News Initiative, it will include joint work on product development, assistance with digital training for newsrooms and €150m in grants to back digital initiatives over the next three years. The Financial Times is among the companies to join the initiative, along with the Guardian, Les Echos in France, El Pais in Spain and Die Zeit in Germany.

Asked if Google was prepared to change its own platforms to help the online news industry, rather than simply pushing publishers to become more digital, Mr D'Asaro Biondo said: "It's both . . . I want to do better for the press, and I know we can do better for the press."

Google News has faced criticism from newspaper companies for years over accusations that it robs news sites of traffic and disadvantages those which build and run subscription services online. Last year, the company shut down its news site in Spain after a law came into effect requiring it to pay fees for carrying even small snippets of copyright content.

Opposition from the news industry was also instrumental in the change in political climate that hit Google in Europe last year in the wake of revelations by Edward Snowden, a contractor for the National Security Agency, about US internet surveillance. The backlash included a formal antitrust complaint earlier this month from the European Commission.

Areas under discussion will include how to make Google News work better for sites that use online paywalls and have complained that the company's advertising-based search business hurts them.

"This is one of the areas we intend to develop - subscription or on-demand [payment] for content," Mr D'Asaro Biondo said. "We also can run counter to search if we realise which way the world is moving," he added, pointing to the company's Play Store, which last year generated $7bn of sales for app makers.

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"But let's be very clear about this: we don't decide - Google or any industry. Consumers do," Mr D'Asaro Biondo said. "If we believe consumers are interested in different models or pay-as-you-go models, we are more apt to develop them."

Some of Google's strongest critics - including German media group Axel Springer and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp - are not part of the newspaper initiative.

Asked if those companies would be included in future, Mr D'Asaro Biondo said: "We would love it, we are always open to them. We do believe pragmatism always wins. We will continue to do everything we can to show them we deserve trust."

The other founding partners are Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in Germany, Dutch company NRC Media, La Stampa in Italy, Spain's Unidad Editorial.

He was due to outline the company's overture to the news industry at the Financial Times' Digital Media conference in London on Tuesday.

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