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I just remember when the EU passed that legislation that made it legal for member states to require Google to pay a fee to newspapers for linking to their conte

I just remember when the EU passed that legislation that made it legal for member states to require Google to pay a fee to newspapers for linking to their content in Google News. Only a few countries bothered to try enforcing it, notably Spain did, and the result was Google called their bluff and de-listed every newspaper in Spain from Google News. It did not take long until Spain relented and permitted newspapers to waive the requirement with exemptions (i.e. allow status quo ante), which is exactly what happened for the bulk of them. Google definitely wants to stay in this market, but I don't think the EU has as much leverage as they think.

osculum 4y ago
It took about 8 years? And my understanding is that it changed because Spain now allows the newspapers to negotiate directly with Google, not because Google doesn’t have to pay those fees https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-news-re-opens-spain-after-eight-year-shutdown-2022-06-22/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-news-re-opens-spai... Disclaimer: I work for Google in an unrelated product. Opinions are my own.
nephanth 4y ago
This is weird though: if Google news delisted every newspaper from Spain, wouldn't that lead to Spanish users ditching Google news (and finding an alternative)? It's not like they're interested in non-spanish news