Google is reaching out to publishers with new tools to try to earn their favor – and to compete with Facebook, reports Bloomberg. The first tool being tested is a new version of an old Google tool called ‘First Click Free,’ and it lets readers access articles from subscription publications they’ve found through Google searches. According to a Google support page, it is a way to ‘meter’ users who access paid content through Google news or a Google search.

Bloomberg says that Google’s other tools will focus on online payments and the ability to target possible subscribers. By doing so, Google shows publishers it can be a partner as well as a competitor.

‘It’s clear from news publishers that they can’t live on advertising alone. But it’s also clear that we’re seeing a shift in a market,’ said Richard Gingras, vice president for news at Google, in the Bloomberg article. ‘This is an area, clearly, where our knowledge about our users can be brought to bear. There is no singular subscription strategy that will work for each publisher.’

The New York Times and Financial Times are early testers for the tools, but Google is talking to other media companies. According to Bloomberg, revenue sharing terms have not been disclosed, and they are still working on how many articles can be read for free when accessed through a Google search. The support page for ‘First Click Free’ says publishers must make the first three articles free, but the Bloomberg article indicates Google might be willing to lower that. This tool could be more widely available within the next month.

Part of the reason for Google’s overture is that publishers are finding they are competing with Facebook and Google for digital advertising dollars. In fact, Bloomberg reports that the two tech companies will earn more than 60 percent of the $83 billion digital advertising spending market in 2017. While publishers like The New York Times are seeing increases in digital ad revenue, they still must compete with the tech companies.

This competition has created a divide, so Google and Facebook have been spending a lot of time and energy trying to reach out to publishers in the last couple of years. In February 2016, Google officially launched Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMP, an open-source project that would load web page 85 percent faster than standard pages.

In January, The New York Times reported that Google AMP had won over ‘many big publishers’ who said readers are interacting more with ads and the user experience is improved. At that time, The Time said more than 600 million pages were running on AMP on more than 700,000 different domains including The New York Times.

The AMP publishing platform seemed to be Google’s answer to Facebook Instant Articles, which launched in late 2015. Since then, Facebook has been adding features to Instant Articles, and has most recently been testing subscriptions through Instant Articles which could offer subscription options to publishers by year end.

Insider Take:

It is hard to tell if Google and Facebook really want to help publishers be successful, or if they are just trying to mitigate any potential fallout from the battle for digital advertising dollars. Regardless of their reasons, we’re glad to see the tech giants trying innovative ways to work with publishers. As they try to find the right business model for their publications, publishers need to experiment and test new ideas and ways of reaching potential subscribers. Google and Facebook could help them, though it might be a case of keeping their friends close and their enemies closer.