Google agrees to pay for news
GOOGLE has entered into a landmark agreement with Seven West Media — the first with a major Australian media company — following a government push to make tech giants pay for news content.
The move announced on Monday follows the government’s proposed media bargaining code gaining crossparty support in a Senate inquiry. Seven West Media — which owns 7 NEWS, the West Australian, PerthNow and other titles — announced it had entered into a long-term partnership with the tech giant to provide news content to Google News Showcase.
Chairman Kerry Stokes thanked Prime Minister Scott Morrison, ACCC chair Rod Sims and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg for their insistence that a code be introduced.
“Their outstanding leadership on the implementation of the proposed news media bargaining code has resulted in us being able to conclude negotiations that result in fair payment and ensure our digital future,” Mr Stokes said.
“The negotiations with Google recognise the value of quality and original journalism throughout the country and, in particular, in regional areas.
“We believe their team is committed to the spirit of the proposed code.”
The agreement is expected to be finalised within 30 days.
Google News Showcase
launched in Australia this month via the Google news app and is spruiked as a way forward for participating news publishers to increase their revenue through “monthly payments from Google”.
Users will be given free access to select stories, while others will remain behind a paywall. News Showcase is already available in Germany, Brazil, the UK and Argentina.
Mr Frydenberg spoke with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google over the weekend, saying: “We have made real progress I think in the last 48 to 72 hours. I think we are going to see some significant commercial deals, which could be of real benefit to the domestic media landscape and see journalists rewarded financially for generating original content.’’
Under the laws, Google and Facebook would be forced to pay Australian media outlets for news content accessed on their platforms.