What is the GNI Local Lab for Brazil?

• Small and medium-sized news organizations that produce original news and are incorporated or registered in Brazil.
• 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 traditional news organizations, digital natives, radio and/or TV broadcasters.
• Government-owned entities and individuals are not eligible to apply.
• Online applications in English are strongly preferred, however Portuguese submissions will also be considered.

The GNI Local Lab is focused to support small and medium-sized news organizations that produce original journalism in Brazil to bring their digital operations to the next level. Selected participants will receive product/business training and technical implementation to grow their digital revenue and increase audience engagement.

The Local Lab will address these issues by bringing in hands on expert consultants:

– In the technical part, performing a deep analysis of the websites of the companies selected - both in terms of performance and monetization - bringing best practices through reports, workshops and office hours.

– In business development, bringing tools, learning and benchmarks through business simulators, workshops and office hours.

At the end of the Local Lab, which will last about 10 months, the 100 companies covered will have technical and business knowledge to be able to work more assertively with digital.

Applications will be evaluated against those main criterias:

• Application depth: based on the information you provided in the form
• Business models in place
• Relevance in the geographic area / community to which your organization produces content for
• Organization structure to receive tech consultancy and implement
• Have a defined problem statement and key objectives for digitization.
• Willingness to 'make it happen' (implement suggestions, participate on trainings, etc) and provide Google and vendor access to audience and monetization strategies/platforms (Analytics, Adsense, Tag Manager, etc)
• DEI focus: how much your organization produce and/or invest in diversity, equity and inclusion

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

The application window is open from May 19, 2022 at 7:00 BRT and closes on June 26, 2022 at 23:59 BRT, 2022 at 23:59 BRT. Further details will be announced on the GNI website.

You will be asked to provide business information in our online application form as well as accept the GNI Local Labs Application Terms & Conditions. See the application form here.

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

• Company/individual information
• Key point of contact for the project
• Location, URL, number of employees, type of publication
• Primary language and coverage area
• Publication total revenue (USD) in 2021
• Online publication average unique users and pageviews in 2021
• 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 Local 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 Local 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 Local Labs and certain project-specific information.

You can find the GNI Local Labs 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 gni-local-lab-br@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 Terms & Conditions.

Each applicant may only submit one application and we will not consider multiple applications. For organizations that are part of a larger group, holding structure or with multiple products, we encourage applying only 1 website/product.

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 is August 1, 2022 and the end date is April 31, 2023.

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 gni-local-lab-br@google.com.

Initial selection of applications will be done by the experienced Project Team and appointed external industry experts, 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 digital and business support to the participating news organizations with a focus of improving their digital infrastructure and uplifting online revenue monetisation opportunities. They will also be involved in the selection process for applications.