European Publishers Play Lobbying Role Against Google
If the rules are approved, Google may eventually have to pay newspaper and magazine groups whenever links to their content are shown on Google’s European aggregation sites. Similar copyright rules already have been passed in several European countries, but have so far backfired against the publishers. In Germany, Google removed many local organizations from its news service, which led to a drastic fall in online traffic to some newspapers’ sites. Local publishers eventually agreed to waive any potential charges.
.. The company’s executives also regularly point out that Google sends millions of daily visitors to European newspapers and magazines through its online news aggregation service. Those links — which can represent up to half of a newspaper’s online traffic — generate much-needed online revenue for publishers.