News Showcase product launches in Germany, Brazil Thursday. News publishers have pressured Google for years over payment
Google’s to pay $1 billion to publishers globally for their content over the next three years, its CEO said on Thursday, a move that could help it win over a powerful group amid heightened regulatory scrutiny worldwide.
CEO sunder pichai said the new product called Google News Showcase will launch first in Germany, where it has signed up German newspapers including Der Spiegel, Stern, Die Zeit, and in Brazil with Folha de S.Paulo, Band and Infobae.
The product will be rolled out in Belgium, India, the Netherlands and other countries. About 200 publishers in Argentina, Australia, Britain, Brazil, Canada and Germany have signed up to the product
Licensing fees will be structured as a flat fee over a period of time and will be negotiated depending on the amount of content the publisher provides, Google said
The search engine giant has been accused of cashing in on hard work and journalistic efforts put in by media companies to publish content that’s in the public interest
European Publishers Council said it’s an attempt by Google to stave off legislation and government action to get them to negotiate.
Many are quite cynical about Google’s perceived strategy, said Angela Mills Wade, executive director of the council. By launching a product, they can dictate terms and conditions, undermine legislation designed to create conditions for a fair negotiation, while claiming they are helping to fund news production.
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Google’s funding for news organisations has frustrated other internet publishers, such as weather websites and recipe tools, which say Google has hurt their revenue
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