Google to pay publishers US$1 billion for news in next three years
Apart from Google, Facebook is also being asked to make regular payments to the media industry for sharing content on its platform
Google said it will pay publishers approximately US$1 billion for news over the next three years, the chief executive officer of the firm, Sundar Pichai, has said.
“I have always valued quality journalism and believed that a vibrant news industry is critical to a functioning democratic society,” Pichai said in a blog post.
News publishers including Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and the German media giant Axel Springer have been calling on Google to pay them for their content for almost a decade but the search giant has refused up until now.
Google plans to pay publishers to create and curate content for a new mobile product called Google News Showcase, which will initially go live in Brazil and Germany before it is launched in other countries.
Publishers including Der Spiegel and Die Zeit in Germany and Folha de São Paulo in Brazil have signed up to be part of the rollout programme.
Proud to announce our biggest commitment to the future of news yet: the launch of Google News Showcase – a new kind of news experience for publishers and readers – along with a $1 billion global investment in partnerships with publishers. https://t.co/zdCHuawyAp
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) October 1, 2020
Latest shift
“The business model for newspapers – based on ads and subscription revenue – has been evolving for more than a century as audiences have turned to other sources,” Pichai said.
“The internet has been the latest shift, and it certainly won’t be the last . . . we want to play our part by helping journalism in the 21st century.”
Google is not the only US tech giant under pressure to pay for news. Facebook is also being asked to make regular payments to the media industry for sharing content on its platform.
Mandatory code
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has developed a mandatory code for the tech giants to pay for their use of news content.
If approved, a draft code announced by the ACCC in July would allow Australian outlets to secure payments in a matter of months.
Australian publishers have suggested Google should pay them $600 million a year but Google has reportedly rejected that call.
Angela Mills Wade, executive director of the European Publishers Council, told the Financial Times that her members were “quite cynical”.
“By launching a product, Google can dictate terms and conditions, undermine legislation designed to create conditions for a fair negotiation, while claiming they are helping to fund news production,” she said.
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