Google is opposing a law proposed by the Canadian government that would force the search engine to pay publishers to list content.
Canada’s proposed online news law would force tech companies to negotiate with news organizations over the content that appears on their platforms.
it is modeled after Legislation introduced in Australia last year. If the bill passes and becomes law, it could encourage more countries to take a similar approach.
Sabrina Geremia, vice president and managing director of Google Canada, analyzed the proposed Online News Act in a blog post.
Google’s main point of contention is the aforementioned “link tax,” which the search company claims will make journalism worse.
A revenue stream from Google could help keep more publishers open at a time when newsrooms are being forced to close due to falling profits.
So why is this a bad thing?
Google argues that the proposal does not clearly define what a news organization is. This could result in “unworthy” publishers being rewarded.
Additionally, the Online News Act would prevent tech companies from punishing or prioritizing news organizations that make deals with them.
In other words, Google’s ability to rank search results for news items will be limited.
What started in Australia is making its way to Canada and may be coming to your country next. Here’s more information on how link taxes may affect search results.
What is a link tax?
Google equates the money it might have to pay to Canadian news organizations with the government’s taxes.
The “tax” is not paid to the government, but is paid to publishers every time Google links a searcher to their content.
As long as news organizations regularly employ two or more journalists in Canada, they are eligible for compensation.
The broad definition of an eligible news business could force Google and other tech companies to compensate publishers for not meeting basic journalism standards.
For example, outlets that deliberately spread misinformation could benefit from a link tax if they met the simple criteria of having two Canadian journalists on the payroll.
As written today, the proposed Online News Act would prevent Google from offering any kind of concessions to publishers with which it has agreements.
This means that Google cannot rank these publishers’ pages higher than others, even if they are of higher quality or more relevant to a searcher’s query.
Potential Problems Caused by Link Taxes
Google claims link tax ‘destroys’ search results for everyone.
The problem isn’t that Google is forced to pay publishers, it’s more of the type of publishers who might end up getting paid.
Technically, a publisher peddling conspiracy theories about current events may be eligible for compensation if the publisher employs at least two writers from Canada.
On top of that, Google was unable to lower the rankings of these publishers in Canadian search results. The Online News Act states that publishers who receive payment from Google can neither be penalized nor receive preferential treatment.
If the bill passes in the form it is today, it would literally disrupt the way Google operates.
In the long run, it has the potential to set a dangerous precedent for laws that other countries may impose on Google.
The bill is currently under review in Canada’s House of Commons. Google said it intends to work with the Canadian government to refine the legislation in the coming weeks.
source: Government of Canada, Google, Globe and Mail
Featured Image: Vitalii Stock/Shutterstock
