netzpolitik.org. There is currently very little literature on the relationship between Big Tech and the media. Google s funding programmes for the media, in particular, have to date eluded rigorous scholarly inquiry. Many news media organisations are facing an economic crisis, and technology companies and their founders are playing a growing role within the media world. In the context of these two related developments, this study by the Otto Brenner Foundation (OBS) examines the relationship between the German news media and the tech corporation Google. As stated in the report, Since 2015 at the latest, the company has funded the European industry to the tune of several hundred million euros. At the same time, Google is both a technology and business partner to many publishers, as well as an economic competitor. There is therefore a certain tension between Google s roles as a sponsor, partner, competitor, and subject of reporting. One key aim of this study is, therefore, to in
Google and Facebook s deals with publishers: What we know so far
The battle of big news versus big tech has only just begun, but already it might be over.
Facebook and Google have begun paying out to news groups in a bid to soften incoming regulation to curb their dominance of the digital advertising market – and they might just have done enough.
Timeline
February 25, 2021
Facebook’s shocking (if not surprising) week-long ban on quality news in Australia last month led to the world-first “news media bargaining code” being watered down somewhat before it gained Royal Assent this week.
Final amendments included the addition a two-month mediation period if both parties fail to reach a commercial agreement over three-months of bargaining, with binding arbitration – where an independent arbitrator chooses the fairest final offer of the two – now a “last resort”.