Industry responds to mandatory payment code for tech platforms: ‘This is a watershed moment to benefit all Australians’
Last week the ACCC handed down its recommendations for a mandatory code which would see publishers and news media able to bargain with the tech giants for payment. The industry was quick to react, largely welcoming the suggestion, although some think more can be done.
After an 18-month investigation, a 624-page report and further months of consultation and review, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) finally handed down its recommendations for a mandatory payment code between the big tech platforms (primarily Google and Facebook) and news media publishers.
In a nutshell – publishers will be able to bargain with the tech giants to secure what they consider as ample funding for their work. The three-month negotiation period will be overseen by a regulator and if a decision cannot be reached then one will be made in arbitration.
The driving force behind the payment code is the apparently unfair relationship between the tech platforms and publishers, which largely benefits the former while resulting in the closure of newsrooms across the country. This is disputed by Google and Facebook – they claim the relationship is already a symbiotic one and that the publishers are greatly overestimating the importance of their content to the success of the tech platforms.
@Michael Milner. “They [tech platforms] derive immense benefit from using news content created by others and it is time for them to stop denying this fundamental truth.
Why don’t they put this “truth” to the test? For 3 months, news outlets impacted in the code remove Google listings and posting their news on Facebook. To ensure there’s no substitute, outlets that are not part of the code including ABC and SBS do the same. Additionally, users should be blocked from sharing article snippets on Facebook or these should appear as link only (no preview).
Hypothesis – the news publishers audience and ad revenue collapses further due to loss in referral traffic. There is zero impact to Google or FB audience and their ad revenue. Users obviously rely on these services for other reasons than news. Also businesses see better advertising ROI using the tech platforms rather than legacy “contextual” advertising in news environments.
Assuming the platforms monetise news content or need it to bring in eyeballs completely mistakes their business models. On FB for example, most of us would rather see posts from friends or family. The platforms monetise audiences, dominate mobile devices and have seamlessly integrated businesses to generate ROI rather than legacy display ad solutions – this is the difference.
Spot on.
> Likewise, the ACCC’s code suggests publishers should work together to gain bargaining power over the tech platforms.
That would be in breach of competition law which prohibits collective bargaining.