Google’s Canadian media deal gives Australian news producers hope for the future

The latest commercial deal struck between Google and Canadian media outlets has given Australian publishers renewed confidence as they work to sign new paid agreements with big tech.

The Canadian government’s deal with Google bodes well for Australian negotiations.

Australian publishers have been given renewed confidence about striking new deals with global tech giants for the use of their news content after the Canadian government reached a lucrative agreement with Google.

The Canadian agreement, announced last week, ensures that links to news stories in search engine results will continue to be offered to digital users in return for the tech giant paying $US100m ($150m) to publishers.

It came after Google had threatened to stop the use of news links as a result of the introduction of the Online News Act that requires tech giants to pay for news on its platforms.

Australia paved the way for Google and Meta to pay for news content under this country’s News Media Bargaining Code which was introduced in March 2021.

The Australian understands some news publishers have begun negotiations with tech giants about extending their deals — some are due to expire in 2024 — to ensure they are compensated for their content when it’s used on the tech giants’ platforms. Former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Rod Sims, who was pivotal in the creation of the code, told The Australian the Canadian deal was a positive sign for Australian news publishers who will be working on cutting new multi-million commercial deals.

“I’m delighted with what has happened in Canada because it takes what we have done in Australia and sees it happen in another jurisdiction,” he said.

“I was also confident that Google would do deals because you can’t run a search engine without access to media. I’ve also been confident that Google will extend its deals in Australia when they expired and … what’s happened in Canada only reinforces that view.”

While details of the Canada deals have not been fully disclosed, it’s understood the pool of money paid by Google will be distributed to news outlets and the amount allocated will depend on the number of journalists employed by organisations.

This differs from the Australian arrangement, where deals were struck with each individual media outlet.

The exact payments tech giants make to Australian news publishers under the code remain confidential but in 2021 it was reported that a total of about $500m was paid by tech giants Meta (owner of Facebook) and Google under the existing agreements.

In 2021, News Corp Australia (publisher of the Australian), was among the publishers to agree to a three-year partnership with Google for payment of content for Google News Showcase which has the latest content from news outlets globally.

News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson said at the time the deal would have “a positive impact on journalism around the globe as we have firmly established that there should be a premium for premium journalism”.

Among those who signed deals with tech giants including Google and Meta were Sky News Australia (owned by News Corp), Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media, ABC, SBS, The Guardian and Australian Community Media.

Google and Meta have more than 30 commercial deals with existing Australian publishers.

Google was contacted for comment but did not respond while a Meta spokeswoman would not detail the outlook for existing deals with Australian news publishers.

“We’re not going to speculate on the future of any deals that are still in effect,” she said.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the Canadian deals were encouraging for Australian media outlets.

“It is positive to see deals signed between news publishers and digital platforms overseas,” she said. “Ensuring the sustainability of public interest journalism in the digital age is critical to a robust democracy.”

Ms Rowland said the government was considering the Treasury’s review of the News Media Bargaining Code which handed down its report in December last year and said she was consulting stakeholders about their deals.

In May, the New York Times signed a deal with Google for three years worth $US100m which allowed the tech giant to use some of the publication’s content on its platforms.

Google also struck a deal with several New Zealand publications this year to provide content for its Showcase platform.

Media outlets including Nine Entertainment were contacted but did not comment.

Originally published as Google’s Canadian media deal gives Australian news producers hope for the future