Google set to pay publishers for news
BRUSSELS • Alphabet’s Google is set to reach a deal to pay French publishers for their news, the U. S. tech giant said on Wednesday, the latest move to placate media groups and head off regulators siding with publishers seeking a level playing field.
Last week, the world’s most popular inter - net search engine said it planned to pay US$ 1 billion to publishers globally over the next three years for their news, starting with German and Brazilian media groups under a new product called News Showcase.
The deal with French publishers would come on the eve of a ruling by a French appeals court on a so-called neighbouring right enshrined in revamped EU copyright rules, which allows publishers to demand a fee from online platforms for showing news snippets.
“The Alliance de la Presse d’information Générale ( APIG) and Google have been working together for a year on the remuneration of neighbouring rights under the French law. These discussions have evolved positively in recent weeks,” Google said in a statement.
It said a deal would include acceptance of the neighbouring right as well as the French groups’ participation in its News Showcase.
Pierre Louette, Groupe Les Echos CEO, who is negotiating for APIG, said: “The last few weeks have allowed us to clarify many points and confirm that Google accepts the principle of remuneration for our press titles.”
News publishers have long fought the world’s most popular internet search engine for compensation for using their content, with European media groups leading the charge.
French publishers are among Google’s fiercest critics. In April, the French antitrust authority ordered the company to pay French publishing companies and news agencies for their content in response to complaints from the media groups.
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.
“This financial commitment — our biggest to date — will pay publishers to create and curate high- quality content for a different kind of online news experience,” CEO Sundar Pichai said last week.
Google parent Alphabet reported a net profit of US$34.3 billion on revenue of almost $162 billion last year.