Google is changing the rules for publishers in Germany in compliance to the new copyright law. Starting today, publishers will need to confirm if they would like their news to appear in the News result page which is similar to an opt-in system.
Google needs to implement a new confirmation system to avoid violating the rights of publishers and for the search engine company to avoid lawsuits against them. Publishers will need to request Google now to have their news displayed in the news page. The search engine company hoped that the publishers will realize the value of them automatically appearing in the news page as it helps drive traffic in the website but for now, they will need to comply with the law.
The new confirmation system is only applicable to Germany so other countries will retain its current system. This change poses another issue as indexers will now be confused which one to pay for and which not.
The new copyright law was passed by the Germany’s lower house last Friday on a 293-243 vote favoring the publishers. It was originally proposed by the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2012 which oppositions perceived as another attempt of the government to get money from Google for the advertising revenues it earned. However, Google remained firm that Google News is a free service and doesn’t contain ads so the company is not earning from it since its birth in September 2002.
A campaign against this law called ‘Defend Your Net’ was released by Google online and on written publications saying that this copyright law would march into the free flow of information and modernism online.
Meanwhile, the European Publishers Council celebrates their triumph they feel that the government has recognized the value of professional journalistic content and will open the door for new changes built using legal contents.
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