Hey Google, you owe Watson (and Co.) 154 million francs!

A study calculated how much money Google and other search engines would owe Swiss media: CHF 154 million. At the moment, Swiss media houses and media professionals generally get nothing.

For search engines, journalistic content is an important factor in their success: users rate Google as more complete, of higher quality and more trustworthy when journalistic content is displayed.

A scientific study published on Friday commissioned by the Swiss Media Association also shows that Google is used much more often and more intensively when it comes to journalism.

Where’s the problem?

The money stays with Google

The study also calculated how much money the tech companies would have to pay to the Swiss media companies and media professionals if they were forced to do so. It is 154 million Swiss francs.

The authors of the study calculated the contribution of the Swiss media to the value of the ‘Google ecosystem’. Taking into account the total advertising revenue of 1.1 billion francs, 154 million francs would be “a fair share” according to the study.

However, Swiss media companies and media professionals see nothing of this money because the money remains within the “Google ecosystem”. To the study’s authors, this is clearly “a market failure that needs regulation.”

“Protect journalists from tech giants”

The publishers’ association has therefore been demanding additional copyright for some time now. “The investigation shows that the additional copyright is necessary and urgent,” Andrea Masüger, president of the association, said in a statement. The work of journalists must be protected against the superiority of the tech giants.

Such additional copyright already exists in the EU and other countries. There, search engines and other tech companies are obliged to pay a fee to the media for distributing journalistic content.

What’s next?

Such a “Google tax” is currently being prepared at the federal level. The Bundesrat intends to submit a proposal for consultation shortly.

Such an ancillary copyright is, however, partly controversial in civil law. The liberal think tank AvenirSuisse has already described the idea as “media funding through the back door”. The domestic media industry must be fed with money from foreign technology companies.

The Swiss media would benefit from the search engines. Your posts get more attention. If a user follows the link, there are several options for the publishers to monetize the content, for example through advertisements or a payment barrier.

What have ChatGPT and Co. to do with it?

According to the announcement, the latest technical developments in artificial intelligence (AI) show that this topic and the issue of protecting services will become even more important in the future.

Against this background, economist Stefano Brusoni, member of the scientific advisory board, says:

Sources

(dsc/sda)