Google is running a “test” that excludes results from news publishers based in the EU. The company says the limited-time trial will only affect a small number of users in nine EU countries, and will not allow “how results from EU news publishers impact users’ search experience and traffic to publishers. It is said that it is useful for “evaluating the But given the fragile state of the news media and the company’s history of threatening to shut down its services in the face of news-related regulation, this is a “no” to see how the mob bosses will handle this. It’s tempting to think of it as the same as doing a “small test.” Corner laundromats can be expensive if they are not protected.
Google describes the experiment (via The Verge) as a “small, limited-time test” to remove EU results from Search, Google News, and personalized Discover feeds. Only 1% of users in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain are affected. These users will continue to see results from other websites, including non-EU news publications.
The company says that once the test is over, news results will be displayed again as normal. (No specific time frame was given.) Google has stressed that this experiment will not affect payments made to publishers under the European Copyright Directive (EUCD); The company has agreements with over 4,000 EU publishers.
Google has a history of using the possibility of withdrawing its publishing rights as a bargaining chip in similar situations. In some cases, this tactic has helped extract concessions.
Last year, Google pulled its news links from Canada in response to Bill C-18, the Online News Act, which requires technology companies to negotiate compensation with online publishers for content linked to them. After months of negotiations, Google said Canada has addressed its concerns and given it a path to an exemption. Canada gave Google that permission last month, announcing that the company had agreed to pay news organizations $100 million a year.
In April of this year, Google temporarily removed links to California news organizations in response to the California Journalism Protection Act (CJPA) proposals, but this does not mean Google will continue to link to news organizations’ websites. Instead, it would require news organizations to pay. While the bill’s fate is still up in the air, Google struck a deal with state lawmakers this summer to contribute tens of millions of dollars to a fund to support local news.
In 2021, the company threatened to remove its entire search engine from Australia in response to then-proposed legislation that would require tech companies to share royalties with news publishers. The country’s prime minister at the time took a firm stance. “Let’s be clear: Australia makes the rules about what can be done in Australia,” Scott Morrison said. After the bill was passed and signed into law, Google entered into content licensing agreements with Australian media companies.
Google said it hopes the data analysis tools it provides to publishers will help them “understand traffic patterns” using the EU test.
