New research has suggested UK news publishers are owed £2.2bn by Google for their contribution to the search platform in 2023 alone.
Google responded that such studies are “misleading” and have been “debunked”, insisting it makes very little money from news content.
The Public Interest News Foundation worked with FehrAdvice to calculate the value of journalism to Google with a survey of 1,484 people which observed their internet browsing habits.
Participants revealed that Google is by far the most important way they searched for online information about current topics. Some 82% said they use search engines to find news (and Google itself is estimated to have 94% market share of online search in the UK).
The survey also underlined the extent to which Google has become a destination for news content itself (rather than simply an aggregator which sends traffic to publishers).
The research found that some 67% of those using Google for news get all the information they need on the platform without clicking out of it. Over the last year Google reduced the need to click-through to sources by providing AI-generated summaries of the journalism it links to.
Some 66% of users said inclusion of national and local news media improves Google search results. When asked how much they would pay for Google, the survey came up with a value of £5.09 per month for Google with news versus £3.79 for Google without.
The PINF said: “Google is able to provide more valuable results because of the work of news publishers. However, the value that news generates for Google isn’t shared fairly.
“News providers are responsible for creating and verifying news content, they employ the journalists, investigate the stories and carry the legal risks. Their work contributes to Google’s profits, but Google doesn’t share the profits equitably with them.”
Citing data from IAB Europe, PINF estimates that Google generated £16.7bn in revenue from search advertising in 2023.
And using data from another study (Höppner & Piepenbrock, 2022) it estimated that 55% of that revenue (£8.5bn) came from searches for “information” as opposed to searches which are using Google merely as a navigation tool.
Using its own survey data, which it said suggested news adds value to information searches 66% of the time, and calling for a 60:40 revenue share model, PINF suggested Google owes publishers £2.2bn from 2023 alone. The 60-40 revenue split (with Google taking the larger share) is on the generous side of the sort of ad revenue share models which operate between tech platforms and content creators. Google-owned Youtube, for example, shares 55% of advertising revenue with publishers.
PINF added: “If we factor in the previous years in which Google built up its dominant market position, we could be looking at a total bill of many billions of pounds.”
It said: “Without independent local news providers, Google would be less trustworthy, diverse, relevant and ultimately less valuable. Therefore, the annual revenue from news to Google should be shared fairly between providers large and small.”
According to the Advertising Association/Warc the UK advertising market was worth £36.6bn in 2023 with national and regional newsbrands and magazines (in print and online) collectively taking less than £1.8bn of the overall pie.
Jonathan Heawood, the Public Interest News Foundation’s executive director said: “Search engines are wonderful things, connecting users with the world’s information. News providers also play a vital role in society, creating accurate and topical information on the issues that affect us all.
“This should be a match made in heaven, but Google’s monopoly over the search industry is squeezing the news industry – particularly independent and local providers – to the brink of extinction. Our research shows how different things could be and should be for the news industry.”
A Google spokeperson said: “This study is misleading and similar studies in other countries have been debunked.
“Fewer than 2% of all searches are news queries and we don’t run ads or make money on the vast majority of them.
“Google Search creates enormous value for news publishers, driving more than 24 billion visits globally to their sites each month.”
The research comes as the UK Competition and Markets Authority began the process of regulating Google under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act which will ultimately require it to “trade on fair and reasonable terms” with news publishers.
Google shares some revenue with publishers via a network of secret payments called Google News Showcase. According to Google, it pays 240 publishers for content via the Showcase scheme.
Press Gazette has previously estimated that Google pays out around £30m a year to UK publishers under the Showcase project. This compares to £55m a year recently agreed as payment from Google to publishers in Canada which is roughly half the size of the UK media economy.
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