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Tech giant Google has agreed to pay Stuff, as well as several other publications, to provide content for its News Showcase platform. (File photo)
Google will soon start paying to share Stuff content after the news company reached an agreement to join Google News Showcase.
The tech giant has agreed to pay Stuff - publisher of this website - as well as several other New Zealand publications, to provide content for its Showcase platform, launched internationally in 2020.
The deal is the culmination of pressure from the industry as well as extensive lobbying of the Government to introduce a legislative backstop as well as stiffen its rhetoric to compel companies such as Google to come to the table and pay for content.
The deals come after the Government last year modestly increased pressure on Google and Meta to strike more deals to support the news media.
NZ Parliament
Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson says law change will address "bargaining imbalance" (video first published in December).
Legislation is expected to be introduced in Parliament next month, with media companies keen for it to still progress, in spite of the deal and even with an election looming. Google is the only company which has made a deal so far.
Unlike Google search results, which show small sections of news stories and leave it to news sites to monetise that content, Google Showcase pays publishers directly for the right to feature their stories.
Google New Zealand country director Caroline Rainsford said the agreements showed Googles ongoing commitment to New Zealands news industry.
Were so pleased to be continuing to bring a broad spectrum of Aotearoas publications to more audiences through Google News Showcase, she said.
Many of these titles have served their communities for decades, providing vital news and information to their regions. Were pleased to reach these agreements to help support public interest journalism in New Zealand.
Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher said the agreement acknowledged the value Stuffs trustworthy journalism provided to Kiwis all over the motu.
We're pleased to reach terms with Google to ensure our content reaches News Showcase readers, she said.
Google also reached News Showcase agreements with Allied Press, The Spinoff, Ashburton Guardian, Mahurangi Matters and Hibiscus Matters, Gisborne Herald, The Wairarapa Times-Age and the Wanaka App.
It is understood that the collective deal which has been negotiated over the past 12 months has yielded a better result for the companies that reached agreements than was previously expected or that looked likely at the beginning of the process.
Former Nine and Fairfax publishing executive Chris Janz was hired by the Newspaper Publishers Association to do the negotiating with Google, after successfully minting deals with both Google and Meta the parent company of Facebook in 2021.
However, those deals came off the back of vociferous support from the Australian Government and in particular the then Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Facebook even threatened at one point to block Australians from sharing content.
Once negotiations began, they were concluded in a matter of weeks.
Labour has shown no such enthusiasm for assisting the sector in negotiations with some of the tech giants, and it is widely considered that Google has made a deal to head off the prospect of any legislative interference.
See more here:
Google to start paying for NZ news content shared via News ... - Stuff
