Google pilot will pay for content, getting ahead of regulators

Google today announced an effort to to pay publishers for high-quality content to be included in a vaguely explained “new news experience launching later this year.”

The company also said it will offer to pay to give readers access to stories on a publisher’s site with a paywall.

The project does not yet include publishers in the United States; it will start in Germany Australia and Brazil.

Axios explains that the move is Google’s effort to stay ahead of lawmakers in various countries who have been clamoring for legislation that would force Google and Facebook to compensate publishers.