Why Google Could Pay Billions to US Publishers in 2024

The bill, which was originally scheduled for discussion this year, has been pushed to the 2024 legislative session, due in part to the lobbying efforts of Google. 

Between January and September, the internet giant spent $1.5 million on advertising in California designed to discourage support of the bill, according to the Los Angeles Times. The figure represents a substantial increase from the $257,000 per year it spent, on average, on such efforts between 2005 and 2022.

A representative for Google acknowledged the uptick in spend, attributing it to an increase in interest in the issue.

The CJPA would require the tech platforms every quarter to track and record the total number of times they link to, display or present reporting from a publisher, according to the bill. 

Based on that number, the platform would allocate a percentage of its advertising revenue to the publisher monthly. The specific amount of money paid to each publisher would be determined through an arbitration process.

One key provision would require publishers to spend 70% of that allotment on journalists. In Canada, funds are apportioned by the number of full-time journalists a publisher employs.

“This is transformative,” Coffey said. “This is not going to be a small fee.”

Precedents in Canada and Australia

The Google compromise in Canada came after the government passed the Online News Act in June, which requires digital platforms with 20 million monthly users and annual revenues of $1 billion to compensate news outlets for sharing links to their pages. The ONA took effect on Dec. 19.

In Canada, only Google and Meta met those criteria. Rather than comply or strike a deal, Meta has removed news content from its platforms in Canada. The company can be fined C$10 million for a first offense and C$50 million for further infractions. 

The development follows the 2021 adoption of similar legislation in Australia, called the News Media Bargaining Code. Since the Code took effect, Facebook and Google have paid A$200 million to news publishers. 

The influx of cash has transformed the job market in the country, journalism professor Monica Attard told the Columbia Journalism Review. Attard, who teaches in Sydney, said she has been unable to persuade students to take internships because they can so easily land full-time jobs.

“I swear to God, I have not seen it like this in 20 years,” Attard said.