Google Says News Is Worthless — Shocking Test Results Reveal Why

Google is downplaying the value of news to its business after a secretive experiment delivered surprising results. The tech giant quietly removed news results for 1% of users in eight European countries over a 2.5-month period — and now claims that news is so insignificant to its bottom line that the impact was “statistically indistinguishable from zero.”

The test comes as Google faces mounting pressure under European copyright laws to pay publishers for using snippets of their content. But Google is hitting back, arguing that publishers are vastly overestimating the value of their journalism to Google’s ad revenue.

If Google can convince regulators that news barely moves the needle financially, it could slash what it’s required to pay publishers — a move that could send shockwaves through the news industry.

But this strategy could backfire. Google has already been hit with massive fines for its handling of news content. In 2021, French regulators fined the company more than half a billion dollars for failing to negotiate fairly with publishers over copyright fees. Germany’s competition watchdog has also been tightening the screws on Google’s news practices.

Notably, Google abandoned part of the test in France after a court threatened to impose fines for violating a prior antitrust agreement. The company also avoided running the test in Germany, likely to steer clear of further regulatory trouble.

Google’s claim that news is worthless to its business could reshape the future of online news — but it also raises serious questions about the tech giant’s dominance and its relationship with the media. Will regulators buy Google’s story, or is this just a clever play to avoid paying publishers their fair share?