Google’s free search engine ‘at risk’ if it has to pay for news

NEW competition laws in Australia could put Google’s free internet search service at risk, the US tech giant has claimed.

In an open letter, Mel Silva, Google’s Australian managing director, hit out at moves to make it pay for news stories, saying it would give “unfair advantages to large news organisations”.

She said it “would force us to provide you with a dramatically worse Google search and Youtube, could lead to your data being handed over to big news businesses, and would put the free services you use at risk in Australia”.

The public rebuke comes weeks after Australia unveiled its plans to introduce a new royalty-style system, which would require Google and Facebook to share the revenue they generate from advertising alongside news content.

It is designed to provide a “fair go for Australian news media businesses”, with many having been forced to cut jobs due to a fall in advertising spend.

Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, claimed Google’s open letter contained misinformation.

He said Google would “not be required to charge Australians for the use of free services such as Google Search and Youtube, unless it chooses to do so” and would “not be required to share additional user data with news businesses unless it chooses to do so”.

The law would instead “allow Australian news businesses to negotiate for fair payment for their journalists’ work that is included on Google services”.