Google threatens to omit French media from search

• Yoorah wrote on 2012-10-19 03:46

  If a proposed French law passes that would require search engines to pay for news articles, the Web giant says it would simply stop linking to the country's media sites.
  
  Google and the French government are engaged in an on-going battle over news results displayed in Google searches.
  
  The French government is proposing a law that would require search engines to pay for news articles if they wanted to include them in query results, according to global news agency AFP. And Google has said that rather than complying with the law, it will simply omit French media sites from search.
  
  In a letter sent by Google to a handful of government offices this month, which was obtained by AFP, the search giant said it "cannot accept" the law's requirements and "as a consequence would be required to no longer reference French sites."
  
  Google wrote that it "redirects 4 billion 'clicks' per month towards the Internet pages" of French media and that paying for news links would "threaten [Google's] very existence."
  
  The crux of the French government's gripe is that it says Google is earning ad revenue by displaying news headlines along with a couple sentences from the article, according to The Verge, while news agencies are losing out on attracting advertisers because readers aren't clicking through to the stories. According to AFP, leading French newspaper publishers back the proposed law.
  
  ...
  

  
  Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57535691-93
  
  Ouch! They shot themselves in the foot pretty bad. I wonder how this will go.
• RealityBreak wrote on 2012-10-19 03:51
  Lol screw the french and their prime minister who owns the media.
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-10-19 03:57
  You've got the wrong guy and the wrong government post.
• Juno wrote on 2012-10-19 03:59
  Can't wait for the day when governments actually understand how the internet works.
  
  Even if they want to propose something like this, they have to do it in a more reasonable manner.
• Odin wrote on 2012-10-19 04:20
  I'm glad that even Google is saying no to the media mafia. They are in the business of sharing information, helping it to be found quickly and made accessible.
  
  It's only natural that doing so would get them in trouble with the coinheads that would censor and copyright everything they can get their hands on.
  
  Though it is interesting that it would be France to have this happen first. I was so sure it would be here in the US.
• RealityBreak wrote on 2012-10-19 04:23

  Quote from Yoorah;965702:

  You've got the wrong guy and the wrong government post.

  
  
  Them dirty Europeans are all the same, showering once a week and banning guns n' stuff.
• Sinned wrote on 2012-10-19 04:31
  ...Paying money for online news?
  
  Better be some top quality shit with no ads.
  Far as I know, news is usually done to cover costs (25/50cent papers, ads on sites), asking civilians to pay instead of just passing along rumors from one city to another like the old days is pretty stupid.
• paladin wrote on 2012-10-19 22:56
  If the french goverment and media do this the backlash will be incredibly
  Google will drop ,bing and others will get pissed at having to pay even with the traffic coming to them
  as much as I dont care for bing it does the job too
• RealityBreak wrote on 2012-10-19 23:27

  Quote from Yoorah;965702:

  You've got the wrong guy and the wrong government post.

  
  
  ... Is someone ninja-deleting my offensive posts? Cuzz I swear I said something about all Europeans being the same, and that they have bad hygiene. Unless it's just my laggy internet.
  Yeah, I was completely wrong there. I'm quite outdated when it comes to politics (I stopped caring at the beginning of laast summer after my senior year). And I forgot that the French had a "democracy." Seems the guy didn't win the last election... meh
• MareneCorp wrote on 2012-10-19 23:33
  Less people looking at news (In general) means less people that care/are informed. Good job, government. They really like to screw themselves over.
• RealityBreak wrote on 2012-10-19 23:37

  Quote from MareneCorp;966208:

  Less people looking at news (In general) means less people that care/are informed. Good job, government. They really like to screw themselves over.

  
  
  Well, it was their intention to get $ from google, not to stop people from looking at the news. They're gonna have to back down on this one.
• Kueh wrote on 2012-10-19 23:38
  I seriously doubt google's existence depends on french media.
• RealityBreak wrote on 2012-10-19 23:41

  Quote from Kueh;966214:

  I seriously doubt google's existence depends on french media.

  
  
  "they" refers to the French Government. If you're talking about my post.
• MareneCorp wrote on 2012-10-19 23:51

  Quote from RealityBreak;966217:

  "they" refers to the French Government. If you're talking about my post.

  
  
  He meant from the article:
  
  

  Google wrote that it "redirects 4 billion 'clicks' per month towards the Internet pages" of French media and that paying for news links would "threaten [Google's] very existence."
  

  
  
  What they meant was, paying for just looking at online news links is stupid.
• Sumpfkraut wrote on 2012-10-20 17:08

  Quote from MareneCorp;966230:

  What they meant was, paying for just looking at online news links is stupid.

  
  And, at least allegedly, an economical death sentence with the amount of traffic.