Google Offers to Exclude News Showcase From Search Results in Germany

Google provided to exclude its “Google News Showcase” service from basic search leads to Germany to finish an investigation by the native antitrust regulator, the authority stated on Wednesday.

“Google has proposed measures to respond to our competition concerns,” Andreas Mundt, president of the Federal Cartel Authority, stated in an announcement.

“The company no longer plans to include Showcase content in the general search results,” Mundt stated.

The regulator stated it can now perform consultations within the press publishing sector to find out if the measures “fit the purpose”. 

Contacted by AFP, Google didn’t instantly touch upon the case.

Launched on the German market in 2020, Google News Showcase presents publishers the chance to position journalistic content material extra prominently on-line.

The American tech big deliberate to combine the brand new platform into its principal search outcomes, which might have multiplied the viewers for the fabric.

The regulator opened an inquiry after a grievance was filed by the publishing group Corint Media, which manages the rights of radio and tv stations, in addition to on-line information websites.

The writer feared that information teams that had not signed an settlement with Google would see their content material relegated in search outcomes.

The integration of Google News Showcase into search outcomes was “clearly designed to focus users’ attention on the new Google-owned news service and its press content”, Corint stated in an announcement when the inquiry was opened.

“This exploits Google’s quasi-monopolistic position in the search engine market in an abusive manner to the detriment of press publishers not participating in the service,” the group stated.

The regulator additionally examined whether or not publishers who entered into an settlement with Google could be prevented from absolutely imposing their so-called neighbouring rights that might permit retailers to demand compensation to be used of their content material.

Negotiations over Showcase could be “clearly separated from the ongoing negotiations regarding other ancillary copyright payments” in response to the problem, the regulator stated.

Google additionally assured that entry to the service can be based mostly on “objective criteria”, and won’t discriminate between publishers for different, specifically monetary, causes.

The announcement comes a couple of days after the regulator categorised Google as an organization of “paramount significance across markets”, opening the door to enhanced surveillance of the tech big.