, Columnist
Can Google Fix the $108 Billion News Industry It Helped Break?
The tech giant is offering to pay some European publications for their content. But it might have to do more to win them over.
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Photographer: Justin Tallis/AFP
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The innovation that turned Google and Facebook into money-making behemoths wasn’t search or social networking. It was selling advertising space alongside content they got for free.
Now, as regulatory investigations in the U.S., Europe and beyond raise the prospect of breaking up the Silicon Valley companies, they’re tweaking that formula. The two firms are striking deals to start paying one important source of that content: news organizations. Not only does this help bring them in line with new copyright laws, it also gives them the chance to regain the media industry’s trust.