Google threatens to scrap New Zealand publisher deals over planned ‘link tax’
The Alphabet-owned search giant has given its strongest signal yet that it could toughen its stance on paying news publishers for their content in Australia.
Google has threatened to stop linking to news content on its platforms in New Zealand and scrap the deals it has with publishers in the region if the government proceeds with a bill similar to Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code.
The Alphabet-owned search giant issued the warning in a blog post on Friday, which emerges as the strongest signal yet that the company has grown reluctant to pay news publishers for the use of their content in global markets, after it slashed the value of agreements offered to some Australian media companies seeking to renegotiate the deals they struck in 2021.
The New Zealand government introduced its Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill last year in a bid to force tech giants Google and Facebook parent Meta to pay local news publishers for the use of their content, similar to the News Media Bargaining Code.
Google’s New Zealand country director, Caroline Rainsford, characterised the bill on Friday as a “link tax”, and said that Google would be forced to make changes to its products and investments in local publishers if it is passed into law.
