Google to pay publishers $1 billion over three years for their content

"This financial commitment - our biggest to date - will pay publishers to create and curate high-quality content for a different kind of online news experience," Pichai said in a blog post.

The product, which allows publishers to pick and present their stories, will launch on Google News on Android devices and eventually on Apple devices.

"This approach is distinct from our other news products because it leans on the editorial choices individual publishers make about which stories to show readers and how to present them," Pichai said.

The product builds on a licensing deal inked to some media groups in Australia, Brazil and Germany in June, which drew a lukewarm response from the European Publishers Council.

Google is negotiating with French publishers, among its most vocal critics, while Australia wants to force it and Facebook to share advertising revenue with local media groups.

Google's funding for news organisations has frustrated other internet publishers, such as weather websites and recipe tools, which say Google has hurt their revenue.