Photo credit: Reuters

Google announced on March 24 it has signed licensing deals with numerous Italian media publishers to pay for news content, in the U.S. tech giant’s latest move to tamp down media anger over lost advertising revenue.

It follows an agreement struck with some French publishers earlier in the year over “neighbouring rights”, which were introduced by an EU directive two years ago and call for payment for showing snippets of news content as part of internet searches.

March 24’s deal will give the Italian publishers access to the Google News Showcase programme, which sees it pay outlets for a selection of enriched content.

“Signed on an individual basis, these agreements represent an important step in Google’s relationship with Italian publishers by remunerating the publishers,” Google said in a statement.

Google News Showcase will be available in Italy in the coming months, it added.