Some news sites are temporarily no longer displayed in Google search results in Australia. This is a test carried out by Google. The background to the action is a
Test run or show of force?
When asked by the Australian Financial Times, Google stated that it was a test that only affected a small proportion of Australian users. Google wanted to “measure the interactions of the news business and Google search.” Against the background of a planned new media law, which is to regulate the obligation of Google and similar digital groups to pay publishers for the use of publishers’ content, the action is seen by publishers as a demonstration of power: Google wants to show that it is easily able to lock out individual publishers and thus significantly limit their reach.
However, the problem thus addressed can also be placed in a larger context: In the wake of U.S. President Trump’s lockout from Twitter, Facebook and other services, the question of the regulatory power of public discourse by digital companies arose – with the current test, Google shows, whether intentionally or not, that this corporation can also exert considerable influence on the shaping of social discourse.
Google criticizes proposed law
Despite the statement not taking off on the planned law, Google is sharply critical. For example, the group considers the new media law to be unworkable, with particular focus on the planned institution of an arbitration court, which is not to engage in mediation, for example, but to rule in favor of one of the two parties in the event of disputes between digital corporations and publishers. In addition, Google points out that the inclusion of publisher content is associated with a redirect to the publisher’s respective website, which in turn leads to advertising revenue for the publisher that it would not generate without Google. The Australian government, however, agreed to include the latter point in further considerations of the law reform. Google also called for criticism to be addressed to the Australian Senate.
