Google to pay $100 million annually to keep news in search results in Canada – Times of India

Google has reached a deal with the Canadian government about keeping news stories in search results. The Canadian Heritage Minister has confirmed that the tech giant has agreed to pay C$100 million (Canadian dollars) annually to news publishers in the country. This deal will resolve Alphabet-owned Google’s concerns over Canada‘s online news law. The regulation aims to make tech majors share their advertising revenue with news publishers in the country.
In a statement to the news agency Reuters, Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge said: “Following weeks of productive discussions, I am happy to announce that we have found a path forward with Google for the implementation of the Online News Act (Bill C-18).”
What Google has to say
According to a report by the Verge, Alphabet’s president of global affairs Kent Walker published a statement saying that “following extensive discussions, we are pleased that the Government of Canada has committed to addressing our core issues with Bill C-18, while we work with the government through the exemption process based on the regulations that will be published shortly, we will continue sending valuable traffic to Canadian publishers.”
Canada’s Online News Act
As a part of the global trend to make tech giants pay for news, the Canadian parliament passed the Online News Act in June.The government is now finalising rules that are expected to be released by a December 19 deadline.

Earlier, Google accused Canada’s law as stricter than the ones in Europe and Australia. The company raised concerns about being exposed to “potentially uncapped liability” and even threatened to block news on its platform in the country.

Apart from Google, Meta Platforms is the next tech giant that is in the crosshairs of the law. The social media major has called the bill “fundamentally flawed” and has blocked news sharing on Facebook and Instagram over its concerns about the law.
According to Canadian news outlet CBC, Bill C-18’s final regulatory language will allow Google to negotiate with a single group that represents media organisations. This will limit the company’s need to work with numerous individual outlets.
The report quoted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who said: “After months of holding strong, of demonstrating our commitment to local journalism, to strong independent journalists getting paid for their work … Google has agreed to properly support journalists, including local journalism.”