Canada and Google agreed that news links will remain in search results and the tech giant will pay $73.6 million, or 100 million Canadian dollars, annually to news publishers in the country.
According to Ukrinform, The Guardian is reporting on this issue.
The deal addresses Google’s concerns about Canada’s online news law, which aims to force major internet companies to share advertising revenue with the country’s news publishers.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St. “After weeks of productive discussions, I am pleased to announce that we have found a path forward with Google to implement the Online News Act,” Onge said.
The Online News Act, which will force internet giants to pay for news, was passed in June, and the Canadian government is finalizing the rules, which are expected to be published by December 19.
“After much discussion, we are pleased that the Government of Canada is committed to addressing our key concerns regarding Bill C-18,” said Kent Walker, chairman of Alphabet, which owns Google.
Under the agreement with Canada, Google will transfer 100 million Canadian dollars annually to news companies, adjusted for inflation.
Google has previously threatened to block news from its search engine, the main source of traffic for almost all websites on the internet, saying Canadian laws are stricter than those in Europe and Australia. The company said it was concerned about potentially unlimited liability.
“Google has agreed to adequately support journalists, including local journalists,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
Another internet giant affected by the law, Meta Platforms, had already blocked news sharing on Facebook and Instagram due to its own concerns. The move led the company to engage in a months-long fight with major Canadian news publishers and “suppressed” smaller publications.
As reported in the media, tech giant Google announced that it will remove Canadian media from its Search, News and Discover products and will no longer operate the Google News Showcase in Canada. This is due to the adoption of the law (C-18) on online news on the Internet in Canada. It demands that Google and Meta platforms (Facebook, Instagram) pay online publications for their content.