Indirectly. Google places advertisments next to those links (that nowadays look exactly like those links) so we know there is a certain monetary value to every

Indirectly. Google places advertisments next to those links (that nowadays look exactly like those links) so we know there is a certain monetary value to every click. If HN sold ad links, and had a scale near google's, i'm sure it would be a candidate to be sued under the same laws too. These laws are bandaids of course, but the argument that these newspapers "They get extra visibility + traffic clicks" is moot these days - what will they do with that visibility? Would be cool if visibility amounted to advertising money, but google also controls the ad market and the ad money that they make is not sustainable. US publications have (by now) solved this by shutting down or installing paywalls. But that doesnt work in EU where GDP is at least 30% lower and the local language audience is a fraction of the english audience. It is an untenable situation, and the fact that google can keep paying fine after fine but keep working in the continent is proof that the market is captured in an unsustainable vortex. So there are going to be a few ways out of this: - Countries/EU keep fining google for a few years , a solution that is going nowhere - Google will have to introduce news payments programs in EU / australia etc that pay well - Google is forced out of the market via protectionism in order to foster local solutions like China and Russia do - Or publishers themselves will collectively create a rival service for news that pays per click a-la spotify, and remove themselves from google