Google to shut down its news service in Spain
SEARCH giant Google is planning to shut down its news-linking service in Spain as new laws come in allowing publishers to force websites to pay for re-publishing headlines or snippets of news.
Google said yesterday that the new law made its news service unsustainable in Spain and therefore it would remove Spanish publishers from Google News worldwide and shut down its service in Spain on 16 December.
The move will mean users from around the world are no longer able to find links to articles from any Spanish publishers.
“The new law requires publishers to charge Google News for showing even the smallest snippets of their content – whether they want to charge or not,” said Google in a statement.
Google News displayed no advertising and made no revenue from the service, it added.
The stand-off also comes amid a growing campaign by politicians, regulators and courts across Europe to rein in Google’s power over the internet search market and the impact it has on deeply ingrained social norms around personal privacy.