Google agrees to pay News Corp for news content

On Wednesday, Google announced that it has agreed to pay Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp for content. The deal was brokered at a time when tech giants are facing increasing pressure by Australian government to pay for news content. Australia’s House of Representatives passed the new media bill on Wednesday which proposes that digital platforms pay news publishers for carrying their news content. The bill will be considered by the Senate.  

The three year agreement would see Google feature news from the media giant as part of the Google News Showcase. The agreement also mentions the development of a subscription platform, sharing of ad revenue and meaningful investments in video journalism by video sharing platform, YouTube.

The outlets joining Google News Showcase will include The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, The New York Post, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and other Australian media outlets like The Australian.

Earlier, tech giants Facebook and Google had threatened to partially withdraw services in Australia if the new media law came to pass.