Google News to Pulls out of Spain

[Ninjalawyer]

Just a bit of background: last month, Spain passed a new law that would require content aggregators pay publishers for snippets of news.

Unlike other countries where publishers have tried to sue Google for Google's use of snippets (and where publishers have typically backed down when Google stopped using snippets from their publications), Spain passed a law (not yet in effect) which provides that publishers have an "inalienable right" to be paid for snippets; the effect of this will be that publishers can't say "no thanks" to getting paid. Not bad for publishers, but maybe bad for others who want aggregators (not just Google) to showcase their stuff and drive traffic their way. It's probably worth pointing out that any publisher that was mad about snippets always had the option of opting-out of Google News if they thought it was a bad deal.

Unsurprisingly, Google has just taken the step of announcing that it will be pulling Google News out of Spain, following which Google News will no longer have any Spanish publications. I don't know if a piece of legislation could fail any harder - not only will Spanish publishers not get additional cash from Google, they will probably enjoy far less traffic.

From Google:

It’s a service that hundreds of millions of users love and trust, including many here in Spain. It’s free to use and includes everything from the world’s biggest newspapers to small, local publications and bloggers. Publishers can choose whether or not they want their articles to appear in Google News -- and the vast majority choose to be included for very good reason. Google News creates real value for these publications by driving people to their websites, which in turn helps generate advertising revenues.

But sadly, as a result of a new Spanish law, we’ll shortly have to close Google News in Spain. Let me explain why. This new legislation requires every Spanish publication to charge services like Google News for showing even the smallest snippet from their publications, whether they want to or not. As Google News itself makes no money (we do not show any advertising on the site) this new approach is simply not sustainable. So it’s with real sadness that on 16 December (before the new law comes into effect in January) we’ll remove Spanish publishers from Google News, and close Google News in Spain.

The post is at Google's Europe blog here.

[fjtorres]

...as expected.

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

...as expected.

by everyone other than the spanish news websites

Won't be long before they claim google are now abusing their position and should be forced to carry the news from Spanish sites.

[Ninjalawyer]

Well that didn't take long. Spanish newspaper publishers are now begging the government to stop Google News from pulling out of the country:

https://www.thespainreport.com/13199...-news-closure/

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

Well that didn't take long. Spanish newspaper publishers are now begging the government to stop Google News from pulling out of the country:

https://www.thespainreport.com/13199...-news-closure/

Reading the report, it sounds like they still want Google to pay; they're just bemoaning that Google's answer is "...not one cent in tribute."

[eschwartz]

As predicted!

Makes perfect sense:

Google News was “not just the closure of another service given its dominant market position”,

...

“Given the dominant position of Google (which in Spain controls almost all of the searches in the market and is an authentic gateway to the Internet), AEDE requires the intervention of Spanish and community authorities, and competition authorities, to effectively protect the rights of citizens and companies”.

Irene Lanzaco, a spokeswoman for AEDE, told The Spain Report by telephone that “we’re not asking Google to take a step backwards, we’ve always been open to negotiations with Google” but, she said: “Google has not taken a neutral stance”.

“Of course they are free to close their business, but one thing is the closure of Google News and quite another the positioning in the general index.”

Seems almost contradictory...

[fjtorres]

They are open to negotiations but Google has not taken a neutral stance.

Translation: we'll settle for *some* money. Doesn't have to be much.

Google is right, though. Once the precedent is established that they can be coerced they will be coerced everywhere.

There is no room for a "neutral stance".

[JSWolf]

This also sounds like MR will have to disallow any Spanish news articles from being quoted. Otherwise, MR will have to pay.

I could be wrong, but that's what it sounds like.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This also sounds like MR will have to disallow any Spanish news articles from being quoted. Otherwise, MR will have to pay.

I could be wrong, but that's what it sounds like.

It isn't anyone who quotes, only content aggregators have to pay. MR isn't a content aggregator, merely a discussion board that sometimes quotes sources relevant to the topics at hand.

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

It isn't anyone who quotes, only content aggregators have to pay. MR isn't a content aggregator, merely a discussion board that sometimes quotes sources relevant to the topics at hand.

I'd further qualify that *MobileRead* doesn't quote anything. MR is merely a discussion board where participants sometimes quote sources ...

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I'd further qualify that *MobileRead* doesn't quote anything. MR is merely a discussion board where participants sometimes quote sources ...

Good point as well.

[Rizla]

The withdrawal of Google from the Spanish market will leave a niche that someone who is willing to pay will fill. That's how the market works. I look forward to seeing alternatives to Google emerge.

[leebase]

Didn't we see this play out already. European country newsies complain about google. Google stops carrying their content in it's indexes. Traffic to the news sites plummets. Newsies go BACK to Google demanding to be added once again.

[bgalbrecht]

Originally Posted by leebase

Didn't we see this play out already. European country newsies complain about google. Google stops carrying their content in it's indexes. Traffic to the news sites plummets. Newsies go BACK to Google demanding to be added once again.

The difference here is that if the synopsis of the Spanish law is correct, Google would need to start paying the Spanish newspapers for the snippets used in their Google News links, which Google has indicated they will not do. If the newspapers get the law repealed, I'm sure Google will be back.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Reading the report, it sounds like they still want Google to pay; they're just bemoaning that Google's answer is "...not one cent in tribute."

They can probably file this one under "be careful what you wish for." I've never been able to figure out how it is detrimental to the publishers to have Google point users to their website for free. People pay Google to do that for them in other businesses.