Pulse emerges one of the winners of the Google News Innovation Challenge

Pulse, Africa’s leading new media publisher has been selected as one of the recipients of the 2019 Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Fund for Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

The GNI Innovation Challenges funds projects that inject new ideas into the news industry through rounds of regional funding. This is part of Google’s $300 million commitment to help journalism thrive in the digital age.

The Google Middle East, Turkey and Africa Innovation Challenge was launched last June and received 527 applications from 35 countries.

After a rigorous review, a round of interviews and a final jury selection process, 21 projects were selected from 13 countries to receive $1.93 million in funding.

The call for applications listed four criteria: impact, feasibility, innovation and inspiration, and the successful projects clearly demonstrated all four.

Pulse is also parent to a video studio, Pulse TV, a dedicated digital marketing arm, Pulse Marketing, and a creative brand studio, Pulse Studio Pulse Nigeria

Speaking on the GNI initiative and the Pulse GNI Project, Fiona Weeks, Director of Digital Strategy at Pulse and project lead said, "Pulse is always looking to push the needle on what innovation in the news industry can look like.

"It is an exciting honour to be chosen for this GNI grant and we intend to use this opportunity to make significant strides in content personalization and delivery which we believe will have a lasting effect on our user engagement."

Representing Nigeria, the Pulse GNI project focuses on content personalization and recommendation across Pulse platforms to increase user engagement.

Talking further on this, Ben Bassey, Editor in Chief for Pulse in Nigeria explained, "In executing the project, we will use internally built technology to develop & implement the key initiatives which will build the base of the overall project goal.

"Now we will be able to study the things our users enjoy, tailor the content they see when on our website and bring the important stories to them.

"Pulse is a user-centric news brand and we are committed to ensuring our rapidly growing audience stays engaged."

Pulse

Pulse is a leading integrated media company with publications, video formats and marketing and production services across Africa - reaching over 100 million people on the continent on a monthly basis.

Pan-African brands and licenses in the group include digital content publishing brands Pulse.ng, Pulse.com.gh, Pulselive.co.ke, soon-to-be launched Pulse.sn, Business Insider, Men's Health/ Women’s Health and The New York Times.

Additionally, Pulse is parent to a video studio (Pulse TV), a dedicated digital marketing arm (Pulse Marketing) and a creative brand studio (Pulse Studio) to offer its commercial clients compelling and integrated marketing and creative services.