Apparently, Google is not leaving Australia. In recent reports, Australia was going to implement a new law that would let tech giants such as Google pay media outlets in the country for utilizing their contents. Google deemed it “unworkable” and threatened that they would withdraw key services from Australia if the law is enforced.
Now it seems that Google is going to stay as they made an agreement with Australia’s Seven West Media Ltd. Seven West Media owns a free-to-air television network and the main metro-newspaper in Perth City. This would make Seven West Media the first Australian Media outlet to seal a deal with Google before the said law would take effect. The announcement was made in Seven West’s earning’s briefing on Monday. The company would then supply Google content for their News Showcase platform but never disclosed on what are the terms the two parties agreed on.
Google tried to close a deal with News Corp and Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd but it seems an agreement was never met. If the law was imposed, this would allow Australian media outlets to capitalize on Google’s content fees if a private agreement was never made.
Now it seems that Microsoft will still use Google as their primary search engine after going to Bing as its replacement.
Google’s Australia CEO Mel Silva also gave her statement that the U.S.-based company is “proud to support original, trusted, and quality journalism.” This seems to be a retraction of her statement she gave in the previous parliamentary hearing that Google would pull its search engine in Australia if ever the News Media Bargaining Code becomes a law.
