Google News Showcase launches in more countries, including the UK and Argentina

Google News Showcase is starting to roll out to more countries worldwide, including the UK and Argentina, on the heels of its Australian launch last week. The digital news digest includes free and paywalled articles from more than 120 UK and 40 Argentinian outlets, bringing its tally to 450 publications. Google’s British media partners range from major news wires such as Reuters to business and politics outlets like The Financial Times and New Statesman, and newspapers The Telegraph, The Independent and Midland News Association.

Participating publishers get dedicated panels showcasing their curated articles that users can scroll through on the Google News app, mobile web browsers, and in Discover on iOS. Tapping an article will take you to the full story on the publisher’s site. Google will also show you panels from news providers you follow and offer recommended panels inside the “For You” feed and “Newsstand” section of its News product.

The web giant claims Showcase can help major publishers gain new subscribers by highlighting paywalled content, while giving smaller newspapers a bigger platform for their output. But in reality, Google’s relationship with the news media has been far from amicable and Showcase has suffered as a result.

Google delayed plans to launch the product in Australia last year, and recently threatened to pull its search engine, after it was told to share royalties with publishers. It seems to have resolved some of those issues, however, with the product arriving in the country on February 4th. Meanwhile, French regulators pressured it into agreeing to pay local news outlets, though it still needs to strike individual agreements with its partners.