Google drops Australia from News Showcase launch amid regulator rancour
After naming Australia, Germany and Brazil as markets where it would start paying publishers to feature their news, the Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O unit dropped Australia from the product's launch this week because its antitrust body has since pushed for laws forcing Google to pay royalties for content industry-wide.
Google said it has therefore paused contracts with five local publishers whose news was due to feature on News Showcase, which presents content on swipeable cards it dubs story panels.
The delay represents a snag in a strategy widely seen as an effort by the tech heavyweight to show it could work with media companies as governments worldwide, led by Australia, look to new laws to make the firm pay for content on its search engine.
A month after Google announced content deals in Australia, Germany and Brazil, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it may bring in arbitrators to decide how much the U.S.
Weve been talking to Google all the way through and theyve been far more open-minded than their public campaign might suggest, Ketchell said.
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