Google has conducted an experiment in eight European Union (EU) countries, temporarily excluding links to content from European news publishers from search results for 1% of users. According to the company, this had no measurable impact on its advertising revenue. Google is likely using the data in tough negotiations with media outlets, seeking to weaken their position in the context of EU law requirements.
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In November, Google began testing in eight European Union countries: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain. France was initially included in the test, but Google pulled out after a court warned that it could violate an earlier agreement, which would result in fines.
According to Paul Liu, Google’s chief economics officer, the removal of news content had no impact on the company’s advertising revenue. The only change recorded was a 0.8% drop in search engine usage. Liu said the drop was due to the loss of queries that initially generated little or no revenue.
The official statement on the company’s blog, published following the experiment, emphasizes: “During our negotiations to comply with the European Copyright Directive (EUCD), we encountered a number of inaccurate reports that significantly overestimated the importance of news content to Google. The results are in: news content from Europe in Search has no measurable impact on Google’s advertising revenue.” The company emphasizes that the purpose of the test was to refute misconceptions about the commercial importance of news content to its search model.
The context of the experiment was the European Copyright Directive (EUCD), according to which digital platforms are obliged to pay publishers compensation for the use of fragments of their articles in search results. Based on the data obtained, Google intends to demonstrate that the value of such content for the company was initially exaggerated, and therefore the demands for payments are not supported by objective economic indicators.
France and Germany, despite the importance of their media markets, did not participate in the testing. Google has already faced antitrust sanctions in France, and pressure is growing on news licensing practices in Germany. These countries were apparently excluded from the experiment in order to minimize legal risks and avoid further conflicts with regulators.
Google has conducted experiments similar to the one in the EU in other jurisdictions, including Canada, California, and Australia. In the latter case, the company threatened to shut down search nationwide when the government proposed a law requiring tech platforms to enter into licensing agreements with media outlets. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison responded harshly: “Australia makes its own rules for its own territory.” The law was passed, Google stayed, and the company later entered into agreements with local media.