Ali Hasan
Google has announced it is considering pulling out its search engine from Australia, following a law dispute with the country’s government. The projected law says that Google has to share royalties with news outlets since Australian users find articles through the search engine.
According to Google Australia managing director Mel Silva, the laws are “unworkable,” and the company will be pushed to stop making Google Search available in the country. Lawmakers accused Google of “blackmail” and senators went even further, saying if Australia manages to pull this off, “this is going to go worldwide.”
The government has argued that since people use Google (and Facebook) to read the news, tech platforms should pay a “fair” price for the journalism. One of every eight searches on Google Australia is news-related (that’s 12.5%), and the Australian print market has seen a 75% decline in advertising revenue in the past 15 years.
Also, 81% of all money spent on digital advertising in the news industry goes to Google and Facebook, BBC reported. “Number of outlets” in Australia has been forced to close, while Google generated $4 billion income from Australia while paying just $45 million (slightly over 1.1%) in tax.
Google has flagged removing its search engine from Australia over the Federal Government’s proposed digital media code. The proposal would force tech giants to pay local media companies for providing their content in search and sharing their content on social media, which Google says would “dismantle a free and open service that’s been built to serve everyone”.
“The latest version of the code requires Google to pay to link to news sites, breaking a fundamental principle of how the web works, and setting an untenable precedent for our business, the internet, and the digital economy,” Mel Silva, the managing director of Google Australia and New Zealand, said in a statement.
“If Google were to remove search from Australia, are they going to maintain Google Maps, which a lot of GPS runs off? Are they going to continue with Gmail and Google Docs? “They haven’t said they will do that (remove them), but it’s worth thinking about the degree to which we do rely on these engines.”
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Google accounted for 90% of search traffic originating from Australian desktop computer users in 2018, and a whopping 98% from mobile users.
And while it’s important to note the proposed code needs to pass before any changes, real or imagined, are likely to take place, Dr Barnet says it may be time to start considering alternatives to Google. “It won’t be a choice, and it could happen suddenly,” she says.
“You know, they’ll open up their browser to search for a recipe for stroganoff and find themselves landing on this page, which Google will probably change to a page saying, ‘Oh, the Australian Government’s awful and it made us do this and we can’t let you search anymore.’
“So there’ll be this moment where Australians have to consider another way to access the web.” Maybe try DuckDuckGo or any other search engine.
