Why Google is ready to leave Australia
Google threatens to stop Australia if forced to pay the media for posting links and snippets. The Canberra government is in fact working on a "binding code of conduct". All the details
For a peace achieved, a new war begins. Or rather he gets excited.
If yesterday Google reached an agreement with the French press (after almost 2 years of battle over the remuneration of newspapers for the publication of extracts on the search engine) today Big G is raising its voice with Australia.
For the first time, the Mountain View giant is threatening to block its search engine in the country if Canberra does not modify its plan to force the Californian giant to pay the media for their content.
The Australian government is working on a "binding code of conduct" that should regulate relations between the media in great financial difficulty and the giants that dominate the internet, including Google and Facebook, which capture a significant share of advertising revenue .
All the details.
THE GOOGLE THREAT TO AUSTRALIA
Google has threatened to block search engine functions in Australia (for Australia's 19 million users) if Canberra's Parliament passes a bill that would force the web giant to pay for local media content.
The company's main concern is that "it would require payments for just links and snippets just for news results in search," Google Australia CEO Mel Silva said at a Senate hearing in Canberra.
"If the proposal becomes law, it would leave us no choice but to suspend the Google search function in Australia," thundered Silva.
THE CANBERRA LAW DRAFT
The legislation, if approved, would oblige tech giants to negotiate remuneration for content included in search results or news feeds with local publishers and broadcasters. If they can't reach an agreement, the bill calls for an intermediary by the Australian government to determine the amount Google should pay to the media. Facebook and other online platforms would also be subject to the same regulatory provision.
WHAT THE AUSTRALIAN ANTITRUST STANDS
The move followed an investigation into the media market in the country and the failure of social media companies to create a voluntary revenue-sharing scheme with traditional media.
The Australian antitrust also estimated that Google and Facebook together earn around $ 6 billion annually from advertising in Australia. Revenues from which news editors do not receive anything.
THE NUMBERS PROVIDED BY GOOGLE FOR AUSTRALIA
As in many other countries, Google dominates internet searches in Australia. Silva told Canberra senators that about 95% of searches in the nation are done through Google.
When asked about how much taxes Google pays in Australia, Silva replied that it paid about A $ 59 million ($ 46 million) on revenue of A $ 4.8 billion ($ 3.7 billion) last year.
THE FACEBOOK NEWS FEED AND GOOGLE SEARCHES IN THE SIGHT
In addition, the Australian bill provides fines of several million euros for violations and targets the Facebook news feed and Google searches.
But Google Australia's number one said the "worst case scenario" would be for the draft code to pass as is, reiterating that Google will be forced to "suspend" its search services in Australia in the future.
THE IRON FIST OF AUSTRALIA WITH GOOGLE
A threat to which Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison responded abruptly: “Australia sets the rules on what can be done in Australia. It is our Parliament that decides, ”he said. “People who are willing to work in this context in Australia are welcome. But we do not bow to threats ”.
AFTER THE REACHED PEACE IN FRANCE
Google's threat to restrict its services in Australia came just hours after the internet giant reached a content payment agreement with French news publishers. Just yesterday Google and the French Press Alliance (Apig) – which represents 300 French newspapers and weeklies – announced the signing of an agreement that paves the way for the Mountain View giant's remuneration of national and regional newspapers across the Alps.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/google-australia/ on Fri, 22 Jan 2021 13:42:03 +0000.