Juan J. Monroe 
Since the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its damning report on Google and Facebook’s dominance as digital platforms in July, the focus on the relationship between tech companies and industry news media has never been so cutting edge.
Of the 23 recommendations listed in the digital platforms report, there was really only one that raised the ears of Facebook and Google – an enforceable trading code to “ensure that media companies are treated fairly, reasonably and transparently by major digital platforms”. ‘.
The recommendation followed the finding of a “significant imbalance in bargaining power that is strongly in favor of duopoly in terms of monetizing content and sharing values”.
An estimate by Statista predicts that the total newspaper advertising market in Australia will shrink to around A$1.37 billion by 2022. In contrast, Facebook’s advertising revenue has reached A$17.4 billion. US dollars in the three months to September 30, up 28% in Google’s advertising revenue jumped to US$33 billion over the same period.
Facebook particularly took issue with the recommendation for a code of conduct, saying: “It’s hard to imagine such influential companies needing the help of the Australian government to negotiate business terms with Facebook, especially in light of the lack of evidence or findings of unfair trade on our part. The analysis does not reflect our experience and is not supported by evidence of our day-to-day business interactions, reviews or engagement with Australian publishers.
Meanwhile, Google Australia’s chief executive, Melanie Silva, wrote in a blog post that proposing such a code “ignores existing commercial agreements between Google and Australian news publishers and the broader value that Google provides through referred web traffic and technology”.
Google and Facebook insist they are working to support publishers and journalists.
“Our role in journalism is inextricably linked to our role in the news industry,” said Kate Beddoe, head of news, web and publishing product partnerships, Google APAC. Countryside.
“It’s about making sure that, as we see changes in the structure and the news industry, that journalism can find a sustainable path… When it comes to trade deals, we believe that there’s a very strong exchange of value right now between Google and news organizations, because we don’t keep traffic, we send it.
“Our goal is to make sure that we bring people to trusted destinations for quality content. And when the audience is there, news outlets have the opportunity to monetize in whatever way best suits their business and to their value proposition to audiences and advertisers.”
In November last year, Google launched its Google News Initiative (GNI) in the APAC region, promising grants of up to $300,000 to publishers developing new and innovative business models and revenue streams. According to Google, the GNI program is designed to “help quality journalism thrive in the digital age.”
Google News Initiative includes fact-checking programs
The tech company has also worked with the Walkley Foundation, a nonprofit providing grants to support public interest journalism, since 2013, and this year announced it would partner with the organization to develop a training network across Australia to “support a sustainable future for journalists and ensure journalists and media have the digital skills to succeed in their craft”.
In September, Google changed its search evaluation guidelines and algorithms to better highlight original reports to help it rank higher on its search pages and maintain that ranking longer.
As part of similar efforts, Facebook said this year it would invest $300 million to support journalism, with a focus on promoting local news, with Australia receiving part of it. The social platform has also partnered with the new Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom, to help promote media freedom and journalist safety in APAC.
Like Google, Facebook has also signed a partnership with the Walkley Foundation, pledging A$5 million to support the country’s news industry. The initiative will see Facebook’s Journalism Project news accelerator, piloted in the US last year, come to Australia. The program provides training and funding for news organizations to grow and monetize their audience on Facebook. Additionally, reports suggest that Facebook will expand its News Tab initiative – which sees the platform pay approved news publishers directly for content – beyond the United States to markets like Australia.
While it’s clear there’s no shortage of initiatives and funding available to the journalism industry, is that enough to counter Google and Facebook siphoning off much-needed ad revenue from publishers?
The Facebook Journalism Project includes its News Accelerator program for publishers
“We have a complex relationship with Google, Facebook, Apple and other platforms,” says Chris Janz, managing director of publishing at Nine. “In some cases we are able to partner for mutual benefit and it is positive to see these experiences, but they have yet to produce a business model that supports continued investment in quality journalism. We also need more transparency to better understand the value of these experiences.
“Overall, we have yet to enter into a lasting relationship that appropriately values the all-important contribution our quality journalism makes to their businesses.”
Janz also welcomes the ACCC’s recommendation of a code of conduct for trade negotiations.
“We fully support the ACCC’s recommendation. Our audiences expect us to be on these platforms and the platforms benefit from our journalism, but there is no business model that fairly values the contribution we make to their businesses.
“The platforms are setting the rules and increasing their share of digital advertising revenue, which means they have unfair bargaining power, there is less money to fund quality journalism and there is no there is no clear path to support the current information ecosystem.”
The imbalance in the current regulatory treatment of content delivered via traditional broadcasting, compared to content delivered via digital platforms, is another issue for the news media industry, which operates in a strict legal and regulatory environment.
“The most shocking example of the regulatory disparity was that, although Facebook was the main platform used to record and disseminate the horrific material from the Christchurch shootings in March, at the time the only investigation that could be undertaken about how Australians were exposed to this was about how Australian broadcasters reported on the event,” said Bridget Fair, chief executive of Free TV Australia.
“More generally, reform of Australian media regulation is long overdue, particularly in areas such as Australian content quotas and advertising restrictions which put commercial free-to-air broadcasters at a significant commercial disadvantage to platforms. which are little or not regulated.”
Regarding Facebook and Google’s various initiatives in news media, Fair says that while they are welcome, they do not address the long-term sustainable monetization of premium Australian content on the platforms.
“As such, we see these recent announcements as a welcome accompaniment – but not a replacement – for the need for a new business relationship between media companies and platforms.”
How tech companies, publishers and journalists work together in Australia will depend on the government’s response to the ACCC report, which is due out in December this year.
“Regulators around the world are considering how Australia will respond to the ACCC’s recommendations,” says Janz. “Chances are, this will set the tone for what is happening in our wider Asia-Pacific region.
Fair agrees, concluding: “The Morrison Government has a real opportunity to take the lead and put in place meaningful reforms to ensure Australians can continue to access high quality Australian content, including content news. This is a track that one would expect to see followed in many countries.”
