Google Rolls Out Paid News Showcase Platform To Bypass Australia Content Law

  • Alphabet Inc’s GOOG (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google rolled out a News Showcase platform for offering news paid by it, including a content agreement with the Australian publishers, Reuters reports.
  • This rollout came just after Canberra made it mandatory for Google and Facebook, Inc (NASDAQ: FB) to pay Australian media companies for content under a law introduced in the Australian parliament in December. Google and Facebook had initially protested against the law.
  • Google alleged that Australian news media businesses would gain an unfair advantage from the law.
  • However, Google’s exit from Australia could prove beneficial for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), whose search engine Bing has just a minuscule 3.6% market share in Australia versus Google’s 94.5% share. Microsoft President Brad Smith’s support towards the new law further fuelled concerns. 
  • Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai had a meeting with the Australian Prime Minister on Thursday over the new law as per the CNBC report.
  • The launch of News Showcase in Australia will involve payment to seven domestic outlets for content.
  • The financial terms concerning the payment remain undisclosed.
  • Google is also exploring options to forge collaboration with other influential Australian publishers.
  • As per the report, Reuters inked a deal with Google to become the first global news provider to Google News Showcase last month.
  • Price Action: GOOG shares closed lower by 0.37% at $2,062.37 on Thursday.
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