Google reneges on deals with small publishers 

International tech giant Google has walked back its commitment to pay a number of small Australian publishers ahead of the deal’s intended end date in 2027.

Google struck the deal back in 2022 with the Public Interest Publishers Alliance (PIPA), agreeing to pay millions of dollars to the publications over a five-year period. The move was one of the deals struck by Australian publishers with Google and Meta to avoid the federal government “designating” them under the News Media Bargaining Code (NMBC), which would have forced them to negotiate commercial deals.

(Midjourney)

PIPA is an association of 24 small publishers that were granted permission by regulator the ACCC to collectively bargain with the digital giants.

Mumbella understands that while the deal was intended to run for five years, the arrangement was actually a yearly agreement, which rolled over year to year. Mumbella also understands the affected publishers are still in the process of negotiating their third-year payments as part of the deal, which may be preventing them from taking greivances public.

When contacted by Mumbrella, Google declined to comment on its payment arrangements with PIPA publishers. A spokesperson did, however, point to Google’s recent renewal of 50 News Showcase agreements, which take in over 100 publications.

Google News Showcase is a web product and associated licensing program that launched locally in 2021. Under the agreements, Google pays publishers to use their content in story panels that appear within Google News and Discover. Google says it helps participating publishers to present their stories in a more engaging way, with greater context and perspective, while also offering increased traffic and revenue potential.

In the case of the PIPA publishers, Google says its Showcase agreements with eligible publishers are continuing.

The Minderoo Foundation negotiated the deal back in 2022 on behalf of PIPA’s publications including: Australian Chinese Daily, AcquisData, Australian Jewish News, Australian Property Journal, Australian Rural & Regional News, ArtsHub, City Hub (Sydney), Cosmos Magazine, The Greek Herald, Hills to Hawkesbury Community News, Indian Link, Il Globo, Naracoorte Community News, Neos Kosmos, OUT in Perth, Perth Is OK!, Primer Magazine, Pro Bono Australia, QNews, Renew Economy, Star Observer, The Music, Time Out (Australia), and Yanchep News Online.

As first reported by The Australian Financial Review, Google recently wrote to the members of PIPA saying it had conducted a “comprehensive internal review”. The review found it needed to “improve the accessibility of support” for small publishers, and would look for a third party to hand out funding instead.

It’s understood a number of publishers had made budgetary decisions based on the proposed funding, which is no longer in play.

Late last year, the federal government announced the News Bargaining Incentive after Meta announced it would stop paying Australian media publishers, and threatened to remove news from its platforms should the government try to force them to negotiate new deals. Despite the announcement, there hasn’t been much progress in the proposal, and the tech giants continue to scale back their publishing investments and commitments.

In total, it is estimated that between them Google and Meta have handed over at least $600 million to Australian publishers in the four years since the NMBC was enacted.

Google was contacted for comment.