Google has published an open letter about a new proposed government regulation that would force it to pay media for news content. Australians visiting their local Google homepage are presented with an ominous pop-up warning that “the way Aussies use Google is in jeopardy” and “their search experience will be hurt by new regulations.” It’s a fat lobbying administration that puts Google’s arguments against the change for millions of Australians.
Australia’s Consumer Watchdog retorted, saying the letter “contains false information”, adding that “a healthy news media sector is essential for a well-functioning democracy.”
The proposed News Media Bargaining Code, currently drafted and targeted at Facebook alongside Google, follows a 2019 inquiry in Australia that found the tech giant a disproportionately large share of the online advertising revenue, although much of its content came from media organizations. Since then, the news and media sector has been hit hard by the pandemic. The guard reports that more than a hundred local newspapers in Australia had to write off journalists and print or hold off when advertising revenue fell.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/21764258/image.png)
“We need to let you know about new government regulation,” read the letter linked from the pop-up of Google Australia Managing Director Mel Silva. Silva states that the proposed regulation will lead to a “dramatically reduced Google Search and YouTube, could lead to your data being passed on to major news outlets, and would jeopardize the free services you use in Australia.”
Google’s arguments include a claim that the law would give an ‘unfair advantage’ to publishers by providing them with information that they can use to increase their rankings compared to the competition. The proposed law would mean that tech companies would have to advise media organizations about algorithm changes that have their rank. But only larger media companies are guaranteed to get this information. The guard reports that eligible media companies must meet various requirements, including having revenues in excess of $ 150,000 per year, and have a particular focus on the Australian market. Google also says the law could jeopardize user data.
The letter was met with pushback from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the competition watchdog behind the proposed law. The proposed rules “will address a significant imbalance in the bargaining power between Australian news media companies and Google and Facebook” it said.
“Google will not be required to share additional user data with Australian news outlets unless it chooses to do so,” the ACCC said. It added that the code does not require Google for its services like Google Search and YouTube.
Google’s letter states that the company had previously offered to pay for news content as part of an initiative announced in June. Under the plans, Google teamed up with publishers in Germany, Australia and Brazil to pay for news content for a ‘new news experience’ due for launch later this year. However, The Financial Times reports that the plans since Australia have been halted as a result of the proposed law. In all likelihood, the initiatives in Brazil and Germany will not be affected. Google did not respond The Verge’s question about the status of the initiative.
“We will do everything we can to change this proposal,” the letter from Google concluded. The company has not been afraid to garner support from its millions of users in the past. In 2018, it showed on YouTube posts about the EU copyright proposal.
Google has also completely withdrawn services in certain countries due to new regulations. Back in 2014, it shut down its Google News service in Spain, after it was asked to pay for the newsletters it displayed.
This is not the first time that Google has publicly reacted to the proposed Australian regulation. Back in May, it published a blog post entitled ‘A fact-based discussion about news online’ in which it stated that it did not run ads on Google News or the Google Search results tab, and that news related questions are a small percentage of the total Google searches in the country. It also said it was showing millions of pages to Australian news publishers.
Update August 17, 6:21 AM ET: Article updated with fuller statement from ACCC.
