Google in talks with media outlets to pay for online news: Report

In order to lessen the growing criticism against Alphabet-owned Google for unfairly gaining profit from copyrighted news, it is considering to crack deals with media organisations for content. According to global news agency reports, the negotiations between the internet giant and different news outlets in France along with other parts of Europe are still in premature stages. If Google starts paying for the news, it would diverge from its previous practice of reportedly freely mining the internet for material that it displays on its search results. 

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Welcomed by media outlets

International media reports also state that a licensing deal proposed by the internet titan is likely to be welcomed by the news publishers that contend company derives profits from the advertisements alongside their news articles including 'snippets' in the search results. Google has indicated that it is currently seeking new ways to help the news organisations when contacted by a global news agency. 

Google vice president Richard Gingras has said in a statement that the company wants to “find quality journalism” and it is essential to informed democracy and provide support for a news industry which is sustainable. He reportedly further added that Google “care deeply” about the issue in hand and is communicating with its partners to find ways that can expand its work with publishers, building on programs like “Google News Initiative”. 

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International media reports also stated on February 14 that Google is considering deals for a “premium” news product. People familiar with the matter reportedly told a global news agency that the California tech giant has remained committed to not paying for news article links which are displayed in the search results and is not changing its stance. Google has also argued that those article links, in turn, generate traffic to news websites and therefore helps the news outlets to get revenues through ads. 

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The new initiative of Google News works with news organisations to encourage readership and paid subscriptions to their offerings. Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook has also been drawing similar criticism for launching “news tab” dedicated to professionally-produced content. The move by Facebook was also launched to promote journalism and revamp the company's reputation for providing misinformation. According to international media reports, the American social media website was expected to pay even millions of dollars in some cases to certain news outlets. 

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(With agency inputs)