Google’s Concession to News Publishers: The Information’s Tech Briefing

News executives around the world are almost certainly feeling triumphant, thanks to news that Google has agreed to pay some publishers overseas for news content. It marks a significant step in publishers’ long effort to get tech giants to pay for their content. Facebook has already begun to pay publishers a little for stories that appear on its  news tab, while Apple is compensating news outlets through its subscription news service. 

This won’t restore the news industry to its former glory. A report last year by the Pew Research Center calculated that U.S. newspapers’ ad revenue had fallen around $35 billion since 2006. That’s half of what eMarketer estimates Google and Facebook will make in U.S. ad revenue this year between the two of them. However generous those companies plan to be with publishers, they’re not going to give away the store. Facebook, for instance, already told regulators in Australia—when faced with an order to pay broadly for news content—that it didn’t need the content that much.