Google is attempting to bully the California legislature into dropping its Journalism Preservation Act — a measure that would require the tech giant to pay news publishers for linking to and monetizing their content.
It’s an important piece of legislation that could aid legit news companies that are grappling for a fair share of web-generated advertising revenue, but Google has responded by removing links to California news sites that would be covered if the law were approved.
It’s a familiar call from the Google playbook, as the company has reacted in a similar way when faced with having to pay publishers for content in other countries such as Canada.
Google’s top brass has referred to the California response as a “test.” It’s obviously a threat — require Google to pay publishers and they’ll cut off the spigot.
The argument from tech companies such as Google is that publishers need their platforms to attract viewers. This is true. Online search engines and social media are conduits for news companies. They are important tools for media companies and any news executive would be lying if they said websites and online traffic aren’t critical to an outlet’s success.
But it’s the publishers who provide the content — the stories, videos and podcasts that people utilize Google to find. And it’s the publishers’ content that derives the clicks that allow Google, Meta and other tech giants to collect revenue from ads.
Google isn’t employing reporters to cover high school basketball games, city council meetings or murder trials. Tech companies don’t uncover wrongdoings, serve as watchdogs or pen profiles about people in our communities. But because of its size and reach, Google claims more revenue from online advertising than news publishers, and that’s not fair.
According to Statista, Google brought in more than $237 billion in ad revenue last year. It’s the company’s primary revenue stream, and understandably Google needs to remain profitable to stay in business.
But so do news publishers. Media has shifted from the morning newspaper and the 5 o’clock news to round-the-clock coverage. Newspaper companies, television stations and online publishers are paying journalists to produce that content, and our society would crumble without reliable, fact-based journalism.
Paying publishers a fair fee for their stories is only logical, whether it’s a news consumer who wants to read an article or a tech giant who seeks to turn that content into a money-maker via ad revenue.
California legislators shouldn’t blink in their stare-down with Google. News producers deserve to be paid for their work, not taken advantage of by multi-billion dollar companies.
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