Google has selected The Swellesley Report to be among the first 150 or so U.S. publishers to be included in its News Showcase program under which the search giant is paying for content. The program launched last week in the United States.
We owe thanks to all of you who have supported Swellesley over the years by reading our posts and making contributions. This has no doubt helped to get us on Google’s radar for opportunities like this, and being part of Google News Showcase should boost the visibility of our content on Google News and search.
You can follow Swellesley on Google News Showcase, and we’d love it if you did since that’s bound to send positive signals to Google’s algorithm. Under Showcase, we’ll display Swellesley news, events, or feature items 7 days a week through Google News on your desktop, smartphone or tablet.
In addition to Swellesley, big name publishers such as the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, and The New York Times are part of the program. So are other local publishers, such as the Bangor Daily News, the Cobb County Courier, and Pleasanton Weekly.
As you may know, Google has been nudged by governments around the world to support publishers, and Google News Showcase is one way in which Google has responded.
Last year, we were also 1 of 16 publishers selected to take part in the Google News Initiative Startups Lab on Managing Money and Risk, which included a grant designed to help publishers pay for accounting software and other tools.
Google has a host of other initiatives, including Adsense, designed to support the online publishing industry as well.
Google launched its News Showcase in select countries in 2020, and it currently involves more than 2,300 publications across 20-plus countries. Google has vowed to put $1 billion toward publications through showcase between 2020-2023.
You can find News Showcase in the Google News app on your smartphone, though it might appear differently depending upon your device. On my iPhone, if I select “Newsstand” at the bottom of the screen, it takes me to News Showcase, where I can then scroll through news highlight panels from numerous publishers.
On your desktop, you can search for Google News Showcase and scroll through the news panels to look for Swellesley or other publications (not all publications show up all the time). In the screenshot below, we’ve already selected “Follow” for Swellesley, so the button appears as a star. This link should get you there directly as well.
You can also go to Google News and select News Showcase from the top navigation bar.
Please send tips, photos, ideas to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
Congratulations on this recognition and boost for your excellent work. I ‘m a regular reader of The Swellesley Report and The Natick Report, and am grateful for the ability to keep up with local news. Informative, entertaining, and enterprising, The Swellesley Report is an important part of our community.
Congratulations! Remarkable recognition for you and Deborah’s hard work and longevity!
So well deserved! You have taken the concept of a local newspaper to a whole other, higher level. Our previous local print paper didn’t come close to what you are doing in terms of breadth and timeliness of coverage, community representation and support, writing quality, and more. Looking forward to what you’ll be doing next!
I hope this works out to be great news for you, Bob.
Congratulations! I discovered the SWellesley Report on Google News, and then signed up for emails of postings.
I’m so grateful we have this terrific resource for the community. At one time, we had a pretty decent local paper, but since it’s been bought out so many times, it is no longer relevant.
Keep up the great work!
Congratulations! Well deserved!!
Good news: Swellesleyreport will have a larger audience. Congratulations.
Btw, loved the Charles River pictures you posted recently.