Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Microsoft
Google portrays itself as an advocate for the open Internet while facing an Australian proposal to force Google and Facebook to pay Australian news agencies to link to their articles. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, argued that the ability to connect to content without paying is “critical to the functioning of the Web”.
Google warned that, if the proposal becomes law, the company could completely exit the Australian search market.
But Microsoft, one of Google’s main search competitors, is not moving to defend the principle of free links. “Although Microsoft is not subject to the currently pending legislation, we would be willing to live by these rules,” Microsoft said of the Australian proposal in a statement to Reuters.
Australia’s new rules would initially apply to only two companies: Google and Facebook. According to regulators, these two companies have such a dominant position in the Australian market – in research and social media, respectively – that news organizations are not able to deal with them on equal terms. Google controls 94 percent of the Australian search market, according to Reuters.
To correct the supposed power imbalance between these tech giants and the Australian media, the proposal would force them into an arbitration process to determine how much to pay news sites to link their articles. According to the rules, tech giants will definitely have to pay something-nor can they stop creating links to news sites to avoid paying. These rules apply not only to Google News, but also to regular search results, which often include news.
In the past, Google used harsh tactics to repel such proposals. In 2014, Google closed Google News in Spain to avoid having to pay to have links to Spanish news sites. But this tactic has become less effective over time. France recently passed its own “link tax” law, which requires sites like Google to obtain permission to use “snippets” of news articles in search results, known as “neighboring rights” in French law. French competition regulators said Google could not just stop showing snippets of French news sites in search results, as it would discriminate against those sites.
Then, last month, Google agreed to pay French news sites to host their content on a new product called Google Showcase. Although Google insists that it is not a link payment agreement, the agreement will also “cover publishers’ rights”. In other words, the deal gave Google a license to link to French news sites in search results.
Microsoft’s decision to break with Google further undermines Google’s bargaining position. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he spoke to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella last week. If Google leaves the Australian market, Microsoft will be ready to make up for the difference with Bing, Morrison said on Monday.
“Microsoft in its statement said it will offer small businesses the chance to transfer advertising business to Bing at no cost and that it will invest more in the product to ensure it is competitive,” reports Reuters.