Until now, Google has not cared whether or not it respects the copyrights of news media. But now Google wants to pay for content, probably for the first time!
The company announced that 855 million euros will be made available for the “Google News Showcase” service over the next three years. This investment is intended to protect the ‘future of journalism’,” said the head of Google in Central Europe, Philipp Justus.
Google News Showcase
The showcase will initially be available for Android users in Germany and Brazil. A news app for Apple users will follow. It is planned that the content will then also be available on the smartphone in Google Discover for Google searches. Then users will no longer need to download an extra app. At the same time, users will also have free access to articles that are behind a payment barrier. With the deal, Google acquires the right to show content that is free on the publisher’s pages. Google also wants to pay for content and then make it available to its users free of charge.
Who participates?
The showcase was already announced in June. A total of 20 media houses from Germany are participating in the news offering. Among them are “Die Zeit”, “Tagesspiegel”, “Der Spiegel”, “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, the Handelsblatt Group with its “Handelsblatt” and “Wirtschaftswoche”, the Ippen Media Group with the “Münchner Merkur”, Computec Media with Golem, Netzwelt and several others, explained Google boss Justus.
The publisher of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” is enthusiastic about the offer, he expects the service to give him the “opportunity to introduce our quality journalism to even more readers, who may become loyal readers and subscribers”.
Criticism from the Federal Association
The Federal Association of Digital Publishers and Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) criticized the announcement. Now Google finally acknowledges that it has to pay for content, but “it is all the more incomprehensible that the group is turning against clear legal regulations to protect press content. The suspicion arises that Google would rather launch its own offer where it can dictate the conditions of participation instead of recognizing law and order in the EU.
“The money distribution to publishing houses is done by Google in the manner of a landlord,” says the BDZV. It is “not compatible with our ideas of a modern copyright law in the 21st century”.
