Australian Media Giant Seven West Agrees to Provide Content for Google's 'Showcase'

[Image source= AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Major foreign media reported on the 15th that Australian media giant Seven West Media has agreed to provide content to Google's news curation application, 'News Showcase.'

As a result, Google is expected not to be forced to pay for Seven West Media's news content.

The Australian government is pushing a bill that requires internet companies like Google and Facebook to pay for news content provided by Australian media companies. The Australian Parliament is scheduled to review the bill starting on the 16th, and its passage is expected this week.

Google and Facebook opposed being forced to pay for news content. Mel Silva, head of Google Australia, appeared before the Australian Parliament last month and said that if the so-called 'News Media Bargaining Code' is passed, Google would suspend its search services in Australia.

With Google and Facebook opposing, the Australian government appears to have allowed internet companies to avoid the application of the News Media Bargaining Code if they separately reach agreements with media companies on compensation methods. Regarding this, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealed that he negotiated with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai over the past weekend.

Treasurer Frydenberg stated, "We are very close to a very meaningful agreement," adding, "Domestic media companies will receive substantial benefits, and journalists will be financially compensated for providing news content."

Just hours after Treasurer Frydenberg made this statement, Google and Seven West Media announced that they had reached an agreement related to News Showcase. Showcase is a service newly launched by Google in October last year. According to the Associated Press, Google has agreed to pay for Showcase content provision to more than 450 media companies worldwide.

Google and Seven West Media also jointly announced on the same day that they agreed to a long-term collaborative relationship. Silva said, "We are very proud to support trustworthy and excellent journalism," and "We welcome Seven West Media, a major Australian media company, joining Google News Showcase."

Neither Google nor Seven West Media disclosed specific terms of the agreement. Another major Australian media company, Nine Entertainment, cited an anonymous industry source saying that Google will pay Seven West Media more than 30 million Australian dollars annually. Seven West Media stated that it will disclose detailed information about the agreement within 30 days.

Unlike Seven West Media, other major Australian media companies, News Corp and Nine Entertainment, reportedly failed to reach an agreement with Google and support the bill.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.