Juan J. Monroe 
Google has announced that it has negotiated to start paying for Australian News with publishers who have agreed to participate in the Google News Showcase program. It’s unclear if that’s enough to stop Australian legislation that Google says will force him out of the country.
News Media Trading Code
Australian lawmakers had held hearings and worked to enact a new law that would effectively force Google to pay for the privilege of displaying links to Australian News.
Australian news media have suffered a catastrophic drop in advertising revenue, reportedly up to 75% since 2005 and some have blamed Google.
I attended the first Google Zeitgeist conference at Google’s Mountain View California campus in the early 2000s and listened to presentations by American news media executives and the common theme was fear that Google had impact on their income.
The situation of falling incomes has been brewing for a long time.
Google threatened to withdraw from Australia
As reported last week (Will Australia have to live without Google Search?), Google Australia chief executive Mel Silva told a Senate hearing that there was no way Google to continue in Australia if the law is passed.
She testified:
“If this version of the code were to become law, it would really give us no choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia.”
Then she threatened that Google Search would pull out of Australia altogether:
“We don’t see how, with the financial and operational risks, we could continue to provide service in Australia.”
Google offers to pay for news
In an apparent U-turn, Google announced that it would pay for Google News through its Google News Showcase program which allows news to be used in its search engine.
According to Google’s official announcement:
“To meet the growing needs of readers and publishers, last year we increased our investments in news partnerships and launched Google News Showcase.
Today we are pleased to announce that we are rolling out an early version of the product to benefit users and publishers in Australia, with a focus on key regional and independent publishers, given the importance of local information and the role it plays in people’s daily lives.
News Showcase is designed to bring value to publishers and readers by providing a licensing program that compensates publishers for curating content for stories panels on Google services, and gives readers more information about the stories that matter.
There is no indication whether this will be enough to prevent the passage of the new law.
The Guardian reported that a news outlet rejected Google’s News Showcase:
“The parent company of the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age has rejected Google’s offer to pay media organizations with the launch of News Showcase in Australia, saying it will not negotiate with the tech giant until it enters force of the media code.”
So it’s unclear whether Google’s openness will be enough to stop Australian lawmakers backing Google in a corner from which Google has threatened to pack up and leave Australia.
Reaction in Australia
I asked Ash Nallawalla, a digital marketing expert in Melbourne, Australia, about this and he indicated that in his opinion the average Australian feels caught in the middle of a fight between Google and the Australian government and that whatever Google says it will do, the average Australian will always be able to access Google.
Ash commented:
“The average Australian has shown little to no interest in what is seen as a fight between two big entities – Google vs. certain TV companies and News Corporation. At best, many believe that Google will no longer be available to them in any of its products.
Google is not threatening to block Australian IPs and I doubt Google dot com dot au will be shut down.
On a quick check I did, Google dot com was able to give me some pretty usable local results for buying pizza. It will not be necessary to find another search engine.
SEO professional Nigel Mordaunt from New South Wales, Australia, said local businesses that rely on Google search are worried:
“Business owners are generally concerned about local businesses thriving on Google and worried about the potential impact this could have on their sales. Australian business owners love Google and want it to rest.
Mr. Mordaunt then commented from a digital marketing impact perspective:
“As an SEO, I think our country is completely unreasonable. If news stations really think it’s unfair, they can’t index their article/post and not show it on search engines.
Being on Google is their choice. I commend Google for working with the Australian government.
We were extremely concerned about the search being taken down as our current government takes strong stances on many issues in our country when it comes to Google and other tech companies.
Too little, too late?
Google News Showcase may prove insufficient to appease news organizations that blame Google for their loss of revenue.
But many news outlets have already signed up.
According to Google:
“From today, a growing number of Australian publishers, leading examples of the best local and regional journalism, will be paid to provide content to News Showcase.
…As this first version of News Showcase rolls out, the partnerships will provide financial support to some of the country’s most respected independent, local and regional publications, including The Canberra Times, The Illawarra Mercury, The Saturday Paper, Crikey, The New Daily, InDaily and The Conversation.
We look forward to onboarding more Australian media partners in the weeks and months to come as we further develop the publisher and user experience.
Google is working to strike deals with more Australian news organizations.
But it’s unclear whether those efforts are enough to stop Australian lawmakers from passing laws that would force Google to pay through legal channels rather than negotiated deals with individual news publishers.
