Google claims that the links to local Canadian news organizations from its products were valued at $250 Canadian annually
Google called C-18 “the wrong approach to supporting journalism in Canada.” Last year Google linked to Canadian news publications more than 3.6 billion times without any charge. As a result, these Canadian publications were able to generate more revenue from ads and new subscriptions. The referral traffic from these links alone was valued at $250 million CAD annually.
With the passage of C-18, Google Search will no longer link to Canadian news content in Canada
Walker wrote, “We have successfully collaborated with Governments and news publishers around the world on the shared goal of strengthening the news industry, and we currently have thousands of mutually beneficial agreements with news publications around the world. We tried to take this same approach with Bill C-18. We repeatedly offered constructive feedback and recommended solutions that would have made it more workable for both platforms and publishers, unlocking further financial support for Canadian journalism.”
Canadian ad revenues have shifted away from local news providers to major platform firms say the government
C-18 was based on a law that was passed in Australia in 2021 that demanded Google and Meta pay content fees to Australian news organizations. Facebook originally removed links to local and international news in Australia although it did bring back access to the news after negotiating with the Australian government.
Canadian government figures show that since 2008, more than 450 news outlets in Canada have closed. Government backers of C-18 said back in April, “Digital platforms and social media are now the gateways where people find, read and share news. Because of this, advertising revenues have shifted away from local news and journalists to these gatekeepers, who profit from the sharing and distribution of Canadian news content.”
So the Canadian government says that it is the platforms making money off of local journalists and news publications. The platforms say that it will be forced to stop linking to local news providers which surely will hurt their exposure. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle but it doesn’t seem that either side is ready to make concessions in an attempt to salvage the situation.
