Google is negotiating agreements to pay news organizations for content, which it criticizes for the fact that copyrighted news gains unfairly according to people familiar with the talks.
Negotiations were stated to be early with most publishers in France and elsewhere in Europe, between the internet giant and news outlets.
Payment for news is different from the practice of the internet giant, who owns the Alphabet, to manipulate the internet free of charge for the search results.
News organizations that argue that Google receives revenue from advertising alongside its news articles, such as “snippets” in search results, will likely welcome a licensing agreement.
Contacted by AFP Friday, Google indicated it is seeking new ways to help publishers.
“We want to help people find quality journalism it’s important to informed democracy and helps support a sustainable news industry,” Google vice president of news Richard Gingras said in a statement.
“We care deeply about this and are talking with partners and looking at more ways to expand our ongoing work with publishers, building on programs like our Google News Initiative.”
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Friday Google was considering deals for a “premium” news product.
The California tech giant has remained steadfast about not paying for news article links displayed in search results and is not changing that position, people familiar with the matter told AFP.
It has argued that it drives traffic to news websites and thereby helps those publishers get ad revenues.
Google’s News Initiative works with publishers to encourage readership and paid subscriptions to their offerings.
Facebook, which has been hit with similar criticism, last year launched a dedicated “news tab” with professionally-produced content a move by the social network to promote journalism and shed its reputation as a platform for misinformation.
Facebook was expected to pay some of the news organisations, reportedly millions of dollars in some cases.
