Google laments that it 'overpaid' Australian news publishers
Comments made privately by Google executives add to mounting concerns among publishing executives over the future of their content deals with the search giant.
Google executives have privately complained that the search advertising giant overpaid Australian news publishers in the deals it struck under the media bargaining code, in comments interpreted as a sign the company wants to reduce its investments into local journalism.
Representatives of the Alphabet-owned technology giant conveyed their concerns about the cost of its Australian deals to industry participants and officials as part of a government consultation process over the future of the news media bargaining code, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions.
The private comments add to mounting concerns among publishing executives who believe their deals with both Google and Meta could be significantly reduced or abandoned entirely unless the government commits to enforcing the news media bargaining code introduced in 2021.
Google did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
Google has taken steps to harden its posture towards news publishers in global markets which attempted to implement similar laws to Australia's media code. The code requires Google and Meta to pay news publishers to display links to, and snippets of, their content.
