Google said on Wednesday that it had finally reached an agreement with News Corp, the largest owner of newspapers in Australia, for a multi-year agreement to pay for its contents.
Why it matters: The agreement, along with a few others reached in recent days between Google and Australian publishers, will likely enable the technology giant to avoid a comprehensive new Australian law that would force Facebook and competitors to pay publishers on terms that set by third parties could not reach agreements themselves.
Details: Google agrees to pay News Corp an unknown amount of content to appear in a new product called the Google News Showcase.
- Among the News Corp publications that join will be The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch and the New York Post in the US; The Times and The Sunday Times, and The Sun in the United Kingdom; The Australian, news.com.au, Sky News, and several metropolitan and local titles in Australia.
- The 3-year agreement also includes the development of a subscription platform for News Corp stores, according to a statement, as well as the sharing of advertising revenue through Google’s advertising technology services, and “the cultivation of audio journalism and meaningful investment in innovative video journalism through YouTube.”
This past week, Google has negotiated with several Australian publishers, including Nine Entertainment, Junkee Media and Seven West Media.
- Australian lawmakers have said they will avoid the legislation if Google and Facebook reach out to Australian news publishers on their own terms of payment.
- The law was brought to parliament for consideration this week.
- If such transactions had not been made this week, it would inevitably have taken place in the coming days these days, although legislators have not said with certainty that the law is 100% off.
Be smart: The agreement with News Corp was the last remaining agreement with a publisher that Google needed to actually convert the proposed law.
- News Corp owns about 70% of the Australian newspaper business and is known for having a strong influence on the lobby in Australia.
- “The agreement simply would not have been possible without the fervent, unwavering support of Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch and the News Corp board,” News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson said in a statement. Thomson also thanked Australian lawmakers for standing up “for their country and for journalism.”
The whole picture: What is happening in Australia serves as a litmus test for other countries that want to harness the power of Big Tech businesses worldwide.
- The law would make Australia the first country to force both Google and Facebook to pay news publishers for their content, or to be subject to heavy fines.
- Both Facebook and Google have said they will not be able to conduct their business as usual once the law goes into effect, warning that if Australia is expected to succeed, they will be removed from their country.
- Other countries in Europe and even the US are also considering measures to even help the playing field between technology companies and legacy industries, such as newspapers.
These types of global threats forced technology giants to create new features that send money to news sales without completely introducing their businesses.
- Google said last fall that it would pay publishers $ 1 billion for their content to appear in the Google News Showcase.
- Facebook has spent millions of dollars on publishers to be part of the Facebook News tab. Facebook News was launched in the UK last week
Go deeper: Tech coughs money for news as regulatory threats threaten