Google launches fund “to spark new thinking” in European journalism

Google has launched its €150m fund “to spark new thinking” in European journalism — part of an attempt to improve relations with an industry that has consistently complained about its approach to copyright.

The fund, which will run for three years, offers grants of up to €1m to news organisations in Europe, including start-ups. The fund will disperse grants twice a year, and will be overseen by a council including executives from Germany’s Der Spiegel and Telegraph Media Group, publisher of Britain’s Daily Telegraph. The fund is equivalent to about 1.2 percent of Google’s net profits in 2014.