Google plans to pay publishers $1 billion to create and curate news content over the next three years. For almost a decade now, news publishers with the likes of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and German-based Axel Springer have been calling the search giant to pay them for their content.
“I have always valued quality journalism and believed that a vibrant news industry is critical to a functioning democratic society,” said Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai. “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 noted that 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,” he said.
Sources said Google plans to pay publishers to create and curate content for a new mobile product called Google News Showcase. This 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 S. Paulo in Brazil have signed up to be part of the rollout program. Like Google, Facebook is also under pressure and is being asked by the media industry to make regular payments for sharing content on its playform. As such, the Australia Competition Consumer Commission (ACCC) has set a mandatory code for tech giants to pay for their use of news content. The draft code which was announched by the body in July would allow Australian outlets to secure payments in just a couple of months. Publishers in Australia has asked Google to pay them $600 million a year, but the search giant had rejected it.
Angela Mills Wade, executive director of the European Publishers Council, believes Google with the launch of its product, can dictate terms and conditions, undermine legislation designed to create conditions for a faire negotiation, and also claim to be helping fund news production.
