Facebook and Google’s Australian pay-for-news nightmare finds a European admirer
- Reference: 1612937288
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/02/10/meo_alex_agius_saliba_backs_australian_news_plan/
- Source link:
Alex Agius Saliba, a Maltese member of the European Parliament, recently chatted to The Financial Times about the matter and cited Australia’s model as one he thinks could work in the Eurozone. If legislated, the model will see Google and Facebook required to enter arbitration with media companies that seek payment for links shared by the two web giants.
[1]
[2]#Australian approach to [3]@Google and [4]@Facebook tackled bargaining power imbalances with publishers. With their dominant position in [5]#search , [6]#SM + [7]#ads , large platforms create power imbalances & benefit significantly from [8]#news content. Only fair that they pay back a fair amount. [9]pic.twitter.com/X53fblxWy6 — Alex Agius Saliba (@alexagiussaliba) [10]February 9, 2021
The Australian scheme’s basis is that links to news add value to each platform, that traffic from links alone doesn’t reflect the value of news content, and that Google and Facebook are so powerful that publishers need legislative help to build a stronger bargaining position. Google so dislikes the scheme that it has threatened to pull its search engine from Australia if it goes ahead, and can point to having abandoned the Spanish version of Google News over a similar licensing scheme as proof it is not just posturing. Facebook has also opposed Australia's plan.
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Malta is not a diplomatic heavyweight but Saliba is significant because he is a rapporteur for the Digital Services Act, legislation that the European Commission [12]promotes as offering “Greater democratic control and oversight over systemic platforms”.
Satya Nadella spoke with Australian PM about opportunities created by pay-for-news-plan. Zuck called the Treasurer for a chat, too [13]READ MORE
The Commission is also working on the [14]Digital Markets Act , which explicitly aims to reduce the power of “gatekeeper platforms” that dominate the web.
Both laws could be amended to include an Australia-style plan.
Google already operates its own pay-for-news scheme, News Showcase, and points to French publishers as enthusiastic participants. It officially [15]launched in the UK today . But Google sets the terms of that program.
[16]
The Australian pay-for-news model is yet to reach a draft of either European bill. Indeed, it is yet to clear Australia’s own parliament. But the mere fact it’s gathered an influential ally shows that Google and Facebook have a real fight on their hands. ®
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_business/policy&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YCO8zPR3VdQohJ4n2jp3ZQAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://twitter.com/hashtag/Australian?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[3] https://twitter.com/Google?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[4] https://twitter.com/Facebook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[5] https://twitter.com/hashtag/search?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[6] https://twitter.com/hashtag/SM?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[7] https://twitter.com/hashtag/ads?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[8] https://twitter.com/hashtag/news?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[9] https://t.co/X53fblxWy6
[10] https://twitter.com/alexagiussaliba/status/1359043955971796992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_business/policy&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YCO8zPR3VdQohJ4n2jp3ZQAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-services-act-ensuring-safe-and-accountable-online-environment_en#which-providers-are-covered
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/31/satya_nadella_mark_zuckerberg_call_australia/
[14] https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en
[15] https://blog.google/products/news/google-news-showcase-launches-uk/
[16] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_business/policy&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YCO8zPR3VdQohJ4n2jp3ZQAAAAk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: All has changed
Sure, now it's "I'm Google (the Gatekeeper of Gozer), I'll reap your contents and show them on my website, in a a way most users will never need to reach your website. I'll hoard those users data, and use them to sell ads I only profit from".
Who ever said contents should be always free? It's not free at all to create them. Of course if you don't create them and just reap them it's much cheaper.
Moreover the more money Google intercepts, the less money go to the publishers and content creators. Which can't live out of thin air.
Re: All has changed
But didn't Germany try the same tactic until the newspapers realised that they were losing traffic because Google stopped indexing them?
Re: All has changed
The idea that users don't visit news websites because they can read the news on Google is a fantasy. Every test has shown that news websites gain more traffic from Google when they display snippets of the article than when they only display titles.
What is correct is that if Google News did not exist, users would directly go to the website of large media companies, and almost never to small sites (this is what happened to Spain).
That said, everybody agrees that good quality news sites need to exist, and that Google has more money than it needs. The discussion only revolves on how the money flows from the latter to the former, and how much, and how this is decided.
Many if not most of sites with a link on Google News are behind a paywall. So what's the point for Google to give them money anyway?
I've got another solution: Opt-in. Google asks to News sources if they want to be referenced in Google News for free. Those which don't want traffic coming from Google News could then refuse.
There's always the robots.txt file.
Waaay too technical.
Does Googlebot even pay attention to robots.txt? Or did a rogue developer add some code that means it always scans the restricted paths and records your GPS and network names while it's doing so?
it is yet to clear Australia’s own parliament
When you have someone like Rupert calling the shots, `tis good as signed.
We are the Google Warriors!
Wherever there is attempts to rein in Google's power, wherever a creepy line is nearly crossed, whenever a fleet of cars illegally collect wifi data, we will be there to defend this poor, misunderstood company!
It tries so hard to do the right thing and make information free! It's massive profits are just an unfortunate side effect of it's philanthropy.
Don't be mean to Google. Their stuff is free. You should hate the people who try to charge for stuff!
Re: We are the Google Warriors!
"Don't be mean to Google. Their stuff is free."
Please tell me you missed "#sarcasm" on the end of that.
Re: Please tell me you missed "#sarcasm" on the end of that.
No, i genuinely believe Google are trying to make the world a better place.
Re: Please tell me you missed "#sarcasm" on the end of that.
love it
Re: We are the Google Warriors!
Please tell me you didn't need it.
Trying To Make Websearches Useless?
Does anyone search for news via ANY web list? I go straight to a couple of news providers, but many searches are so polluted with other items that they waste my time.
I would be happy to delist all newspapers, (really opinion sheets trying to make news) items from my web searches
If I want to buy a widget, I want a list of widget suppliers, not news about obscure widget related events.
It is already hard enough to find stuff I want to understand. When I searched out details about surgeons, they were all blanks, least I found out who killed rather than cured. The very details I wanted to know.
I'd be surprised if Google pulled out of Australia.
And if they do, there are many options to fill the void.
Honestly, it may well backfire on them when people realise they can live without google perfectly well, thankyouverymuch
DOI: I hate google and won't touch their products with a barge pole.
I certainly wouldn't follow a link to our local newspaper's site. Unless they've changed they have an opt out to over 100 other sites, their site is crap and any other stories they offer usually turn out to be from some of their other "local" titles. I would probably still be reading the print edition if they'd put more effort into getting it delivered but that stopped years ago. It wouldn't surprise me, BTW, if they and Rupert's Oz organs used an image from Streetview whenever they need a picture of somewhere an incident happened.
All has changed
So in the late 90s it use to be "Visit my website. Here's a link to my website. Come visit". That has been going on for years with people selling their services to get you in high search rankings etc.
Now it appears the news media is saying "Come to our website. Here's a link. Oh but you have to pay for that link now, to host that link. Then pay to actually get to the rest of the article behind a pay wall" well fuck off then, we just won't read your paper.