GNI Advertising Lab for India

• Small and medium-sized news organizations that produce original news and are incorporated or registered in India.
• Eligible applicants must have a website and have been in operation for at least 12 months.
• Newsrooms must be employing between 2 - 100 full-time employee (FTE) journalists.
• Local and regional publishers employing more than 100 FTE journalists can still apply and will be considered subject to Google’s discretion.
• Eligible applicants can include for-profit or nonprofit traditional news organizations, digital natives, radio and/or TV broadcasters.
• Government-owned entities and individuals are not eligible to apply.
• Applications must be in English.

The GNI Advertising Lab is focused to support small and medfium-sized news organizations that produce original news for local and regional communities in India. The selected participants in the Lab will receive product training and technical implementation support to grow their digital ad revenue.

Applications will be evaluated against 3 main criterias:

• Eligibility: The applications will first be evaluated against eligibility criteria before selection.
• Needs: Applications will be assessed based on the important needs self-defined by the applicants in the application form.
• Priorities: The priorities outlined in terms of digital development and strategic roadmap in the application form will be evaluated.

Initial selection will be done by the Project Team as well as external consultants, who have knowledge and experience in digital publishing and journalism in India. Applicants will then be contacted by email and guided on the next steps of the program participation.

The application window was open from October 5 2021 9:00 IST and closed on November 5, 2021 23:59 IST. Further details will be announced on the GNI website.

You will be asked to provide descriptions, detailed project plans and budget information in our online application form as well as accept the GNI Advertising Lab Application Terms and Conditions. See the application form here.

In order to assess the applications, the Project Team will need information including:

• Company/individual information
• Location, URL, number of employees, type of publication
• Primary language and coverage area
• Publication total revenue (USD) in 2020
• Online publication average unique users
• Member of any news trade bodies, association(s) and/or press councils
• Key business needs and revenue streams
• Existing CMS
• Digital Reader Revenue Model
• Priorities on Digital development and Strategic plan
• Government owned entity or any level of government involvement

As set out in the GNI Advertising Lab Terms & Conditions, we require that applicants do not submit any Business Sensitive Information (as defined in the Application Terms and Conditions). Google intends to publicize its activities relating to the GNI Advertising Labs. As outlined in the Application Terms and Conditions, it is a condition of application that Google may publicize aggregated data showing how funds have been offered in the GNI Advertising Labs and certain project-specific information.

You can find the GNI Advertising Lab Terms & Conditions here.

Yes, we will review all eligible applications received by the application deadline. We will notify all applicants of their final status via email.

If you would like to contact the team please email gniadslab@google.com. During the assessment process, applicants may be asked to provide additional details about their application, including through interviews and/or the submission of further supporting documents.

Each applicant may only submit one application and we will not consider multiple applications. For organizations that are part of a larger group or holding structure, we encourage each individual publication to apply separately.

Google will process any personal data you provide in connection with this application in accordance with our privacy policy. Please see the Program Terms and Conditions for further details on how we will treat the information that you provide to us. As set out in the Terms and Conditions, we require that applicants do not submit to us any business sensitive information.

The application and any other materials provided to us by you may be used by Project Team and external consultants for the purpose: (i) assessing your application; (ii) assessing your ongoing compliance with these terms and conditions; (iii) if your application is successful, providing support to you; (iv) preparing and sharing studies; and (v) publicizing your participation in the Program in accordance with Terms and Conditions.

Business Sensitive Information is confidential information which, if disclosed, would provide your competitors with a competitive advantage over you or would otherwise cause substantial harm to you.

Please see the Application Terms and Conditions for further information on this.

As the owner of your application, you are the best judge on what information is Business Sensitive. However, if you are in any doubt about this then we recommend that you seek independent legal advice.

If your application is shortlisted, you will hear from us within 60 days after the closure of the application window with any follow-up questions we have before communicating our final decision to selected applicants. Unsuccessful applications will be notified, but we can’t provide specific feedback to applicants who have not been selected.

The program start date was October 5, 2021 and the end date is May 31, 2022.

Unfortunately, due to the high volume of applications expected, the Project Team is unable to provide personalized feedback on each proposal. That said, we will make ourselves available for general advice in the future and to answer questions about the application process. The email for contact is gniadslab@google.com.

Initial selection of application will be done by the experienced Project Team and appointed external consultants, who will review all applications for eligibility, needs and priorities. They’ll pre-select applications and make recommendations for final selection.

Expert consultants will be providing tailored training and hands-on technical ads support to the participating news organizations with a focus of improving their digital infrastructure and uplifting online ads monetisation opportunities. They will also be involved in the selection process for applications.