INS wants Google to compensate Indian newspapers for use of content by sharing ad revenues

The Indian Newspaper Society has written to Google to compensate newspapers in the country for the use of content published by them, and to share its advertising revenues.

 

L Adimoolam, president, INS, has addressed a letter to Sanjay Gupta, country manager, Google India, to address this concern. The letter states that the content which is generated and published by newspapers at considerable expense is proprietary, and it is this credible content that has given Google the authenticity in India.

 

The INS added that there is a huge distinction between the editorial content from quality publications and fake news that is spreading on other information platforms.

 

This follows Google agreeing to better compensate and pay publishers in countries like France and Australia.

 

This is based on the fact that advertising has been the financial backbone of the news industry. Newspapers are feeling the pressure, as its advertising pie is shrinking according to various media reports since budgets are shifting to digital. 

 

The INS insisted that Google should increase the publisher share of advertising revenue to 85 percent, and also ensure more transparency in the revenue reports provided to publishers by Google.

 

It has also stated that INS should give greater prominence to editorial content from registered news publishers to tackle fake news. The INS believes that Google picks up content from several sites that are not credible, thus 'amplifying misinformation and propagation of fake news'.