Last week, the Spanish government began to clamp down on Google as the state is now requiring the search engine juggernaut to pay Spanish news publishers each time their content is listed on the website. Since the company is refusing to cave into their demands, the tech titan has removed Google News from appearing in the country and no content will be available to peruse from the nation’s top publishers.
The law will take into effect Jan. 1, but Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is not wasting any time as a large chunk of the Spanish content should be completely removed from the website on Dec. 16. However, a Google Spain spokesperson confirmed that there is no specific timeline for Google delisting Spanish publishers.
Google defended its move by saying that Google News is not generating revenues since there are no advertisements on the website. Therefore, governments charging the search engine to show even the smallest piece of the article is “not sustainable.”
Although the government claims it was acting in the best interests of its news outlets, publishers affiliated with the Spanish Newspaper Publishers’ Association (AEDE) are now begging and pleading with officials to make Google come back.
Representatives from AEDE presented the case in a statement as it purported that Google is too dominant in the market to leave and its departure will certainly have a significant impact on its viewership levels and the overall business. The group added that it is certainly willing to keep Google News around and participate in some sort of negotiations.
Irene Lanzaco, a spokeswoman for AEDE told The Spanish Report: “Of course they are free to close their business, but one thing is the closure of Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) News, and quite another is the positioning in the general index.”
John Biggs of Tech Crunch summarized the incident as simply accusing the Spanish media industry of “biting off more than it could chew.” Biggs opined that media companies have to realize that there are a lot more effective and efficient means of “separating visitors from their pocket change via micropayments and bitcoin.”
Until this realization, more governments will attempt to get some money from the search engine.
