Google tests removing news articles from search in EU, but it’s already backfiring | TechCrunch

Under EU law, digital platforms have to pay for news reuse. But how much should Google pay for article previews? That’s what Google is trying to find out with an experiment in nine EU countries.

During the test, 1% of users won’t see articles from EU-based news publishers in search and Google News so that Google can see its real impact on traffic. Or at least that was the plan. While the company notified press publishers and associations in advance, the plan doesn’t seem well-thought-out.

Just a day after Google made its plan public, the Paris Commercial Court issued an order saying it was breaking its existing agreement with the French Competition Authority. Google could either scrap the test or pay €900,000 per day. The company decided to remove France from the list.

So now we’re down to eight countries for this 1% experiment — for now…

Additional reporting by Anna Heim