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Google News Australia Back Up Amid Fight

By  |  January 27, 2021

Google is reviving plans to launch its own news website in Australia within weeks, according to a local media outlet contracted to provide articles for the venture, as the search giant fights world-first proposed laws on content payments, reported Reuters.

The launch of the News Showcase product as early as next month is Google’s latest tactic in a high-profile campaign against the Australian government’s planned legislation to make the company pay local news providers for content that appears in its search engine.

Misha Ketchell, editor of the academic-penned newsite The Conversation, said on Wednesday, January 27, he was approached by Google “to resume discussions about launching the News Showcase product as soon as possible, potentially in February. We are working with them on this.”

Google had announced plans to launch News Showcase in Australia last June, signing deals with six small local outlets, including The Conversation, for content. It subsequently delayed the launch, citing regulatory conditions, when Australia’s competition regulator published a draft copy of the proposed media bargaining code.

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