Photo by David Clode on Unsplash [Download]

Google warns users in Australia free services are at risk if its forced to share ad revenue with big media

Google has fired a lobbying pot-shot at a looming change to the law in Australia that will force it to share ad revenue with local media businesses whose content its platforms monetize seeking to mobilize its users against big media.

Back in April the countrys government announced it would adopt a mandatory code requiring the two tech giants to share ad revenue with media business after an attempt to negotiate a voluntary arrangement with the companies failed to make progress.

Googles open letter instructs users to expect to hear more from it in the coming days without offering further detail so it remains to be seen what additional scare tactics the company cooks up.

Consultation on the draft code closes on August 28, with the ACCC saying last month that it intends for it to be finalized shortly, so Googles window to lobby for changes is fast closing.

Its not the first tech giant to try to repurpose the reach and scale of its platform to mobilize its own users to drum up helpful opposition to government action that threatens its corporate interests.

Such efforts have, it must be said, only had very fleeting successes vs the scale of the platforms regulatory reform ambitions.

But its interesting to see the tactic moving onto the front page of Google perhaps signalling the scale of alarm the company feels over the prospect of being forced to share ad revenue with publishers whose content it monetizes, creating a model that other countries and regions might seek to follow.

In a statement responding to Googles open letter, the ACCC went on the attack accusing the tech giant of publishing misinformation about the draft code.

This will address a significant bargaining power imbalance between Australian news media businesses and Google and Facebook, it goes on, adding: A healthy news media sector is essential to a well-functioning democracy.

Original article
Author: Natasha Lomas

TechCrunch is a leading technology media property, dedicated to obsessively profiling startups, reviewing new Internet products, and breaking tech news.

Natasha Lomas has recently written 10 articles on similar topics including :
  1. "Human rights NGO, Amnesty International, has written to the EUs competition regulator calling for Googles acquisition of wearable maker Fitbit to be blocked unless meaningful safeguards can be baked in". (November 27, 2020)
  2. "A coalition of 135 startups and tech companies with services in verticals including travel, accommodation and jobs have written to the European Commission to urge antitrust action against Google warning that swift enforcement is needed or some of their businesses may not survive". (November 12, 2020)
  3. "A week after Facebook grabbed eyeballs globally by blocking news publishers and turning off news-sharing on its platform in Australia, the countrys parliament has approved legislation that makes it mandatory for platform giants like Facebook and Google to negotiate to remunerate local news p". (February 25, 2021)
  4. "Google has made its pitch to shape the next decades of digital regulation across the European Union, submitting a 135-page response yesterday to the consultation on the forthcoming Digital Services Act (DSA) which will update the blocs long-standing rules around e-commerce". (September 4, 2020)
  5. "Google has offered a second round of concessions to try to persuade European regulators to clear its acquisition of wearables maker Fitbit . The deal has been stalled by concerns over its impact on consumer privacy and competition in the wearables market". (September 29, 2020)
  6. "Europe has greenlit Googles $2.1BN acquisition of fitness wearable maker Fitbit, applying a number of conditions intended to shrink competition concerns over letting it gobble a major cache of health and wellness data following months of regulatory scrutiny of the deal". (December 17, 2020)
  7. "Google has agreed to pay a 1.1 million fine over misleading star ratings for hotels in France. The tech giant had been applying its own (algorithmic) system of ratings for hotels applied via its search engine and on Google Maps". (February 15, 2021)
  8. "Googles appeal against an order by Frances competition watchdog to negotiate with publishers for reuse of snippets of their content has failed". (October 8, 2020)
  9. "Yet more trouble brewing for Facebook: Australias Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is suing the tech giant over its use, in 2016 and 2017, of the Onavo VPN app to spy on users for commercial purposes". (December 16, 2020)
  10. "A month after Europes top court struck down a flagship data transfer arrangement between the EU and the US as unsafe, European privacy campaign group, noyb, has filed complaints against 101 websites with regional operators which its identified as still sending data to the US via Googl". (August 18, 2020)
Posted on  , , , , ,