Google restricts some users' access to California news sites

Google said Friday it would remove links to California news sites from some users' search results to protest pending legislation that would require Silicon Valley technology companies to pay publishers.

The search giant said the bill, called the California Journalism Protection Act (CJPA), would transform its business model. If passed, the bill would force companies like Google to collect journalism fees when they sell ads next to news content.

Jafar Zaidi, Google's vice president of global news partnerships, said in a blog post on Friday that we have long argued that this is the wrong approach to supporting journalism. If passed, the CJPA could significantly change the services available to Californians and the traffic available to California publishers.

Google also announced that it would pause further investment in California's news ecosystem.

Many news organizations rely on sites like Google and Facebook to distribute their news, subject to the whims of the companies' algorithms.

Publishers, including the Los Angeles Times, are laying off staff in part because of revenue shortfalls caused by the decline in print journalism and weak advertising spending.

National news organizations such as the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal are also laying off staff, as are primarily digital operations such as BuzzFeed, Business Insider and Vice.

LA Taco, a local online media outlet that recently furloughed most of its staff, believes one of the factors leading to the company's woes is Google's ability to pull information from news outlets for self-generated responses without posting links. He said that it is in AI. He also noted that viewer habits are changing, with people gravitating toward watching influencer-style videos instead of reading articles.

LA Tacos editor Javier Cabral writes that these two factors essentially destroyed journalism's business model overnight.

The California Journalism Preservation Act is supported by the California News Publishers Association. and the News/Media Alliance, of which The Times is a member.

Brittney Barsotti, general counsel for the California News Publishers Association, said Google's actions show why the bill is absolutely necessary.

Barsotti said it is shameful that they are blocking news to the public they need and punishing local publishers for fear of the law.

Supporters of the California bill said it would help level the playing field for journalistic news organizations struggling to attract enough digital subscriptions to survive.

To understand the difference in market dynamics, consider that Google earns enough advertising revenue to pay its costs. [annual] Chris Argentieri, president and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Times, said during a hearing last year discussing the bill that it would reduce newsroom costs in less than three hours. His 1-2 months worth of Google's earnings could cover the costs of every journalist working in California.

Big digital platforms like Google and Meta use our content to generate billions of dollars in revenue without compensating us, Argentieri said. Given the size of the company, it is impossible for us or anyone in our industry to have a seat at the table to solve this problem through normal business channels.

Critics of the bill, including Google, argue that it would favor media conglomerates and hedge funds, while putting smaller media outlets at a disadvantage.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company announced it is partnering with more than 7,000 global news publishers through the Google News Initiative, including 6,000 journalists in California. The company said it would pause expansion of its efforts until the state's regulatory environment becomes clearer. .

The initiative helped provide grants and training to journalists on digital tools. Zaidi writes that only 2% of Google search queries are news-related.

By helping people find news stories, we can help publishers of all sizes grow their audiences for free, Zaidi wrote. CJPA will upend that model.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2024-04-12/la-et-ct-google-blocks-news The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

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