Eligibility:

• Ways to increase reader engagement and/or reader revenue;
• Developing and diversifying business models;
• New methods of distribution;
• Combating misinformation;
• Increasing trust in journalism;
• Reaching new audiences;
• Improving the efficiency of workflows;
• Exploring new technologies.

Projects will be evaluated against five main criteria:

• Innovation: Preferred projects will be innovative and transformative for the applicant and for users;
• Impact on the news ecosystem: Preferred projects should demonstrate potential for significant positive impact for the wider industry. For example, collaborative approaches and open-source projects are encouraged;
• Feasibility: Preferred projects should demonstrate their potential through clear indicators and expected metrics. They should set out key risks and mitigation steps;
• Diversity: Preferred projects will be able to demonstrate their self-defined commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion whether that is within their audience, organization or content. Google is committed to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and works to support companies/projects that are in line with such values;
• Inspiration: Preferred projects will show willingness to share knowledge and to contribute to the improvement of the ecosystem overall. This could include activities such as attending events, writing blogposts or contributing to case studies. Selected recipients will be required to produce a public report with learnings from the project.

Projects that would NOT qualify for Innovation Challenge funding include:

• Projects relating to news coverage only or projects merely translating news content into other languages;
• Upgrades of legacy publishing systems;
• Projects that relate to simply collating or listing data (for example, the publication of job listings or stock exchange data, or the re-publication of newswire articles);
• Projects on training or education only;
• Projects which do not impact a news organization.