Google has admitted it is burying articles from Australia’s biggest media outlets in an experiment observers claim is a threat to block news to avoid paying for it.
Users this month complained they were no longer able to see articles from national news websites including Daily Mail Australia in the search engine’s results.
Google said it changed its algorithm to block specific news sites as part of a ‘short-term experiment’ affecting only about one per cent of its users.
But media outlets claim the move represents a dramatic show of power from Google as the company fights plans to make it pay news publishers for their content.
Google executives claimed the proposed industry code – which would issue $10million fines for non-compliance – is ‘unworkable’.
Media outlets have hit out at search engine giant Google after the company admitted it is burying news stories as part of a short-term ‘experiment’
A Channel Nine spokesman accused Google of willfully stopping Australians from accessing ‘timely, accurate and important information’ by tweaking its algorithm.
‘Google are now demonstrating how easily they can make Australian news providers who fall out of their favour effectively disappear from the internet – a chilling illustration of their extraordinary market power,’ Nine said.
Swinburne University media lecturer Belinda Barnet told Daily Mail Australia the search engine was burying news stories to prove media outlets need it more than it needs them.
‘Google has decided to experiment with our ability to access local news content because they want to prove a point,’ she said.
‘The point they’re trying to prove is the referral traffic is worth more to media outlets in dollars than the advertising revenue Google makes from news content.
‘They want to prove to the Australian government news doesn’t mean anything to them and they’re happy to lose the content if they’re made to pay for it.’
A Google search for ‘Daily Mail Australia’ brings up the most recent articles for some users but others can only see links to the publication’s social media pages or its Wikipedia entry.
Google Australia managing director Mel Silva has launched a war of words with media outlets after claiming a proposal to make search engines pay for news would undermine the internet ‘for millions of Australians’
Some users can only see links to MailOnline’s social media pages or its Wikipedia entry when searching for the website on Google
Some readers complained they couldn’t find the site on Google or any articles when searching for news on any topic.
‘This started happening several days ago and I was really confused – I thought it was just me as others I knew had no problem,’ one reader said.
‘I had to find out what was going on through the media and was disgusted that Google would do this without even informing me.
‘This outrageous change has already made my work far more difficult as I need to stay up to date with the news.
‘What if someone was in a bushfire zone and needed the latest information… they could die. News is also more important than ever during the pandemic.’
Twitters users criticised the sudden change in the way Google filters its news searches
Readers reported similar issues when searching for stories on The Australian, Guardian Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Age.
Twitters users hit out at the sudden unannounced change in the way Google is filtering its news searches.
‘They’re flexing their muscles. Don’t annoy them in any way is their message,’ one wrote.
Google said the experiment was one of ‘tens of thousands of experiments in Google search’ the company made every year.
‘In 2018, the value we provided to publishers through referral traffic alone was estimated at $218m,’ it said.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission warned on the same day that it is preparing a regulatory war against Google, Facebook, and Apple.
ACCC chairman Rod Sims said the media bargaining code was just the beginning of a series of new government measures aimed at restricting the power of the internet giants.
‘These are trillion-dollar companies, they control the content and of course, they have all the data,’ Mr Sims told The Australian Financial Review.
‘People sometimes don’t realise News Corp and Nine are nothing compared to Google, you wouldn’t get that sense, but it just shows what a good job Google’s public relations do.’
Google Australia managing director Mel Silva has repeatedly criticised the ACCC’s proposed media code.
The world-first news media bargaining code is being scrutinised by a Senate committee which is due to report on February 12, before the laws are voted on in parliament.
Ms Silva said in an open letter published last week while some changes had been made to the code ‘the law still threatens to fundamentally damage Google search’.
‘If the code became law today, it would break the way Google search works undermining the benefits of the internet for millions of Australians, from small business owners across the country, to literally anyone trying to find information online,’ she said.
Ms Silva said Google did not object to the principle of paying to support journalism.
‘We’re proposing to reach deals to pay publishers through Google news showcase, a program we’ll invest $1.3 billion in globally over the next three years,’ she said.
The search engine giant said the experiment was one of ‘tens of thousands of experiments in Google Search’ the company makes each year
‘It will help news businesses publish and promote their stories online, paying for their editorial expertise and beyond-the-paywall access to their journalism, rather than for links.’
She said it offered a fair and practical way to meet the original goals of the law.
The Media and Entertainment Arts Alliance union said the business model of Google and Facebook has ‘literally destroyed newsrooms around the world’.
The government estimates for every $100 spent on advertising, $53 goes to Google, $28 goes to Facebook and $19 goes to other media.
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