US giant Google on Tuesday shut down its popular online news service in Spain in protest at a new law which would make it pay for content. "We're incredibly sad to announce that, due to recent changes in Spanish law, we have removed Spanish publishers from Google News and closed Google News in Spain," read a message on the company's Spanish news page, which is normally full of aggregated content.
"As Google News itself makes no money (we do not show any advertising on the site) this new approach was not sustainable," it added. Google announced on December 10 that it would close Google News in Spain because of a Spanish intellectual property law, due to take effect on January 1, that requires news publishers to receive payment for content even if they are willing to give it away.
The law has been dubbed the "Google tax" in Spain but it would also apply to other big web companies with pages that reproduce and link to news content, such as Yahoo. Google is facing pressure from publishers in several European countries, who accuse the online search titan of taking advantage of its dominant position in the market, They are demanding payment for use of their content but this is the first time Google News has shut down in a country.
Industry Minister Jose Maria Soria hinted that a compromise solution may still be found. "No decision should be taken that is irreversible. I think that over the coming months, the situation will probably evolve," he told reporters when asked about the closure of Google News.
"It was publishers themselves who submitted the idea of a tax to the government. The sector must now wait to see what the real impact will be" of the absence of Google News, he added. Experts have estimated that the closure of Google News could lead to a drop in Internet traffic to Spanish news media sites of 10-30 percent, the minister said.
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