History of Google News in Timeline

Google News is a news aggregator service created by Google. It compiles a constant stream of news articles from numerous publishers and magazines, presenting links to these articles in an organized manner.

September 2002: Google News Beta Release

In September 2002, Google released a beta version of Google News. This marked the initial launch of the news aggregation service developed by Krishna Bharat, which would later become a prominent platform for news consumption.

2002: Chicago Tribune article on United Airlines bankruptcy

In 2002, Chicago Tribune wrote an article on the bankruptcy filing of United Airlines.

2002: Fixtures Marketing v. OPAP decision

The 2017 briefing on the ancillary copyright for press publishers paid by the European Commission, referred to the 2002 decision in Fixtures Marketing v. OPAP and that no publisher was known to have won a case with it.

March 2005: AFP Sues Google for Copyright Infringement

In March 2005, Agence France-Presse (AFP) sued Google for $17.5 million, alleging that Google News infringed on its copyright by including AFP's photos, stories, and news headlines without permission. It was also alleged that Google ignored a cease and desist order.

November 2005: Integration with Google Search History

In November 2005, Google News was integrated with Google Search History.

January 2006: Official Google News App Release

In January 2006, Google officially released the Google News app. This followed the beta version launched in September 2002 and marked the formal introduction of the news aggregation service to the public.

June 6, 2006: Google News Adds News Archive Search Feature

On June 6, 2006, Google News expanded by adding a News Archive Search feature, offering users historical archives going back more than 200 years from some of its sources. A timeline view was also available for selecting news from various years.

February 2007: Google-Copiepresse judgment

With the Google-Copiepresse judgment of February 2007, the Belgian judge ruled that a copy of a webpage memorised by the Google server and the existence of a link giving public access to the same webpage contravene the rights of reproduction and communication to the public. the Belgian judge took the view that Google’s reproduction without comment of parts of articles was not covered by this exception. The same judgement does not consider the exception in respect of quotations for purposes such as criticism or review provided for in Article 5.3.d to be applicable to the Google News service.

August 2007: Google Arrangements to Host News

Starting in August 2007, Google made arrangements to host Agence France-Presse news, as well as the Associated Press, Press Association and the Canadian Press.

2007: Belgian Court Ruling Against Google

In 2007, a preliminary injunction and then a Belgian court ruled that Google did not have the right to display the lead paragraph from French-language Belgian news sources when Google aggregated news stories, nor to provide free access to cached copies of the full content due to copyright and database rights.

September 7, 2008: United Airlines Loses Market Value Due to Archived Article

On September 7, 2008, United Airlines lost and later not quite regained US$1 billion in market value when a 2002 Chicago Tribune article about the bankruptcy filing of the airline in that year appeared in the current "most viewed" category on the website of the Sun-Sentinel, a sister paper. Google News index's next pass found the link as new news, and Income Security Advisors found the Google result to be new news, which was passed along to Bloomberg News, where it was briefly a current headline and very widely viewed.

September 8, 2008: Google News Offers Indexed Content from Scanned Newspapers

On September 8, 2008, Google News began to offer indexed content from scanned newspapers. The depth of chronological coverage varies; beginning in 2008, the entire content of the New York Times back to its founding in 1851 became available.

2008: Introduction of the 'First Click Free' Program

In 2008, Google introduced the "first click free" program, which allowed users to access articles behind a paywall, with the first click to the content being free. The content provider set the number of free clicks after that first one.

December 1, 2009: Google changes policy to allow a limit of five articles per day

On December 1, 2009, Google changed its policy regarding the "first click free" program, allowing users to access a limit of five articles per day behind a paywall, aiming to protect publishers from abuse.

December 23, 2009: Google News Ceases Carrying Associated Press Content

On December 23, 2009, Google News ceased carrying Associated Press content, ending the arrangement where Google paid for Associated Press content displayed in Google News.

2009: Report on the outlook for copyright in the EU

According to the 2009 Report on the outlook for copyright in the EU:

2010: Google News Redesign

During the summer of 2010, Google decided to redesign the format of the Google news page. This redesign engendered significant complaints from regular users of the service.

2010: Removal of Direct Access to Archive Search

In early 2010, Google removed direct access to the archive search from the main Google News page, advanced news search page, and default search results pages. These pages indicated that the search covered "Any time" but did not include the archive and only included recent news.

May 2011: Google Cancels Plans to Scan Old Newspapers

In May 2011, Google cancelled plans to scan further old newspapers. Approximately 60 million newspaper pages had been scanned prior to this decision. Google announced that it would instead focus on "Google One Pass, a platform that enables publishers to sell content and subscriptions directly from their own sites".

May 2011: Ruling Upheld in Copiepresse Appeal

In May 2011, the ruling against Google in the Copiepresse case was upheld in appeal. Google reiterated legal defenses, but the Court rejected them based on the Infopaq ruling and others.

May 16, 2011: Major Revision of Google News Layout

On May 16, 2011, the layout of Google News underwent a significant revision.

July 14, 2011: Introduction of Google News Badges

On July 14, 2011, Google introduced "Google News Badges."

July 2011: Copiepress Publications Restored on Google News

In July 2011, Copiepress publications were restored on Google News after they requested it and renounced any complaint based on the previous judgement.

August 2011: Removal of News Archive Advanced Search Functionality

In August 2011, the "News Archive Advanced Search" functionality was removed entirely, generating complaints from regular users who found that the changes rendered the service unusable. Archival newspaper articles could still be accessed via the Google News Search page, but key functionalities such as the timeline view and ability to specify more than 10 results per page were removed.

March 2012: Google News available in 28 languages

In March 2012, Google News was available in more than 60 regions and 28 languages.

October 2012: Retirement of Google News Badges

In October 2012, Google retired the "Google News Badges" feature that was introduced in July 2011.

2012: Brazil's National Association of Newspapers Pulled Content

In 2012, Brazil's National Association of Newspapers (AJN) jointly pulled out of allowing their content to be shown on Google News. This change resulted in only a negligible drop in traffic.

2013: Introduction of ancillary copyright for press publishers in Germany

In 2013, lobbying by Europe-based news outlets led to the introduction of the ancillary copyright for press publishers in Germany.

October 2014: German Publishers Grant Google a License

In October 2014, a group of German publishers granted Google a license to use snippets of their publications gratis. This followed the group's initial claims that such snippets were illegal and subsequent complaints when Google removed them.

December 2014: Google Shuts Down Google News in Spain

In December 2014, Google announced that it would be shutting down the Google News service in Spain. This was in response to a new law in Spain, lobbied for by the Spanish newspaper publishers' association AEDE, that required news aggregators to pay news services for the right to use snippets of their stories.

2014: Google News tracks 50,000 sources

As of 2014, Google News was monitoring more than 50,000 news sources globally.

September 29, 2015: Google changes policy to allow a limit of three articles per day

On September 29, 2015, Google changed its policy again, reducing the limit to three articles per day.

June 2017: Thorough Redesign of Google News Desktop Version

In June 2017, the desktop version of Google News underwent a thorough redesign. Google stated that the goal was to make news more accessible and easier to navigate, with a focus on facts, diverse perspectives, and user control. However, several options such as the search tools menu were removed, making searches more difficult. It now uses a card format.

October 2017: Introduction of Flexible Sampling Model

In October 2017, Google replaced the "first click free" program with a "flexible sampling" model, giving publishers the ability to decide how many, if any, free articles they would allow.

2017: Briefing on ancillary copyright for press publishers

In a 2017 briefing on the ancillary copyright for press publishers paid by the European Commission, Prof. Höppner thought the database right was not violated by most platforms on the basis that the "substantial part" criterion may be too high a bar after the 2002 decision in Fixtures Marketing v. OPAP and that no publisher was known to have won a case with it.

May 2018: Introduction of AI Features

In May 2018, a revamped version of Google News was introduced with artificial intelligence features to help users find relevant information.

2019: European Union copyright rule transposed into national law

In 2019, Spain transposed the European Union copyright rule into national law, enabling media outlets to negotiate with tech companies rather than imposing a mandatory fee system.

2019: Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market

The 2019 Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market requires Google News to license content from news sites.

October 2020: Google Announces Showcases Program

In October 2020, Google announced a new program known as "Showcases," where the company would pay publishers to curate featured news content displayed in branded panels on Google News and Discover. Showcases may occasionally include free access to paywalled content. The program was first launched in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

2020: Google News prioritizes local news outlets

According to a 2020 study, Google News prioritizes local news outlets when users search for keywords specifically related to topics of local interest.

2020: Google Announces US$1 Billion Investment in Showcases

In 2020, Google announced a US$1 billion investment to collaborate with publishers on creating Showcases, which are described as a new format for insightful feature stories.

2022: Spanish version of Google News reopened

In 2022, The Spanish version of Google News reopened, after Spain transposed the 2019 European Union copyright rule into national law, enabling media outlets to negotiate with tech companies rather than imposing a mandatory fee system.

As of June 2023, Google had reached copyright licensing agreements with 1,500 publications in order to come into compliance with the 2019 Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market.

October 18, 2023: Google Cuts Jobs in News Division

On October 18, 2023, Google confirmed that they had cut at least 40 jobs in the news division. Google clarified that these internal changes would have no impact on their misinformation and information quality work in News.

2023: Google to Block Canadian News Sites in Canada

In 2023, Google announced it would block all Canadian news sites from visitors located in Canada in response to the Online News Act, when the act goes into effect near the end of 2023.

May 2025: Google News offered in 38 languages

As of May 2025, Google News is offered in 38 languages including Afrikaans, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Cantonese, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Indonesian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese.