Question #2: Do news websites have a choice whether to appear or how to appear
in search results?
Yes. Most websites want people to find their content in our Search results, but
if a news site (or any other for that matter)
doesn’t want to show up
or wants to
control what is shown
on Google, they can choose to do so. They can do that whether their site is
paywalled or free to view.
Question #3: Does Google value news content?
Yes. We recognise its role in educating and informing Australians, and in
strengthening democracy. But it represents a very small proportion of the
websites that people choose to visit from our search results. And it is not
financially lucrative for us.
Google makes money from ads and we don't run ads on Google News or the News
Tab in Search.
Last year, only a very small percentage of Google Search queries were
news-related and Google generated approximately AU$10 million in revenue—not
profit—from clicks on ads against news-related queries in Australia. Most of
our revenue comes from search queries for highly commercial topics, like when
someone searches for 'running shoes' and then clicks on an ad. Businesses want
their ads to appear against queries when a user is looking to buy a product or
find a good deal. It’s these types of queries that lie at the heart of our
Search ads business.
Question #4: Why do you say news queries represent a small proportion of
search queries?
People come to Google to find many things, whether it's 'how to' videos,
recipes, sport scores, weather forecasts, outfit ideas, or home insurance.
News is only a very small part of this content, and represents a tiny
proportion of search queries. In fact, we looked at all the billions of
searches that Australians typed into Google over the past year, and found that
just over 1% of these were news-related. Examples of news-related queries in
2019 are “federal election” or “bushfire”. Queries like “best running shoes”,
“burger restaurant near me”, “Dean Lewis new album”, "flu symptoms" and most
everything else you can think of, are not.
Question #5: How does Google financially support news media businesses?
For many years we’ve helped publishers make money by providing tools and
technology that helps them sell advertising on their sites. Businesses which
advertise with Google can choose to have their ads appear on news publishers’
sites with a few clicks. This removes a lot of the hard work for Australian
publishers and gives them access to a huge range of new advertisers - often
overseas - who work with Google. Of course we pass on the vast majority of
money these advertisers pay us directly to
Australian publishers.
More recently we’ve created technology to help publishers drive revenue
through subscriptions. In addition, we have developed the
Google News Initiative, designed to help journalism adapt to the digital age. In Australia, we have
partnered with the Walkley Foundation
to deliver free training for up to 5,000 journalists and students in Australia
and New Zealand. Nine Australian media organisations have received our
Innovation Challenge
and
YouTube innovation
funding. We also provide
emergency funding
to publishers impacted by COVID-19.
And importantly, in July, we announced a series of new deals to
pay to license
content for a new news product going live in the next couple of months.
