Google will pay publishers to license content

Alphabet Inc.’s Google will begin paying select media outlets featured in a yet-to-be released news service later this year, a major business shift for the search engine after years of pressure from media companies and regulators, Bloomberg News reports.

The service will show stories from chosen publishers inside the news aggregation features, Google News and Discover.

“We’ve heard loud and clear that we need to do more to support publications around world. Today’s news is part of that solution,” said Brad Bender, Google’s VP of product development for news.

As Axios reports, this appears to be an effort by Google to get ahead of the threat of government regulation by introducing its own payout terms.