Google to block Canadian news outlets from search results in Canada

Google The Canadian government will Banned Articles Canadian news outlets have been prevented from appearing in search results and other products in the country after passing a new bill requiring Google to pay news companies a fee.

The new bill, C-18, was Passed last week. The bill would have brought Canadian newsrooms $329 million annually, according to the Canadian Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated, a revenue stream that now seems unlikely to materialize. It requires companies like meta and Google to push media when it is linked to news in search or feeds.

The move, which would also pull Canadian media from Google News and Discover products, could have a significant impact on publishers who rely on Google search to attract readers who support their businesses. It looks like the changes are already starting to affect some users.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, one of Canada’s largest news organizations, He said It would “encourage Canadians to go directly to websites they trust for their news.” Newsrooms in Canada and around the world have suffered years of decline. From 2008 to 2018, 216 Canadian newsrooms closed their doors, according to researchers.

“Big tech would rather spend money changing their platforms to block news from Canadians than pay a small share of the billions they make in advertising dollars,” said Pablo Rodriguez, MP for Honoré-Mercier He said on Twitter Thursday. Google announced $40.69 billion in search revenue for the second quarter of 2023.

Head of Global Affairs for Google, Kent Walker named The framework of the new law is “impractical” in a blog post and said it would expose the company to “unlimited financial liability simply for facilitating Canadians’ access to news from Canadian publishers.”

meta It has already said it will start blocking Canadian media from appearing on Facebook or Instagram after the law is passed. A similar law was passed in Australia and spurred the same response from Meta, sparking a huge controversy. Meta later made a deal with the state and regained access to the news.

“The fact that these internet giants would rather cut off Canadians’ access to local news than pay them their fair share is a real problem, and now they’re resorting to bullying tactics to try and get their way. It’s not going to work,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters last week.

Walker said, “We are disappointed that it has come this far. We do not take this decision or its implications lightly and believe it is important to be transparent with Canadian publishers and our users as soon as possible.”