Google May Start Paying Publishers For News

Google may soon join the ranks of Apple and Facebook in paying publishers for news content.

Google and news publishers have been at odds for years, with the latter wanting Google to pay for content. While Google’s search sends an untold number of visitors to news websites, Google doesn’t pay for any of the content that shows up in its News service.

The company is under additional pressure, however, after the passage of a new copyright law in the European Union (EU). Under the new law, search engines must pay a license to display a preview of a news article, something Google has so far refused to do.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, that may be about to change. People close to the matter told the WSJ that Google is in talks with news publishers, specifically those outside the U.S., to license content for a news product. Whether that will be the company’s existing News service or an entirely new product is anyone’s guess at this time.