Searching for news
There’s been big news in news and AI since our last newsletter, with Google announcing a long-expected integration of generative AI into its search engine and News Corp gushing over a deal it’s made with OpenAI, also expected.
AI Overviews will allow Google to provide structured answers to complex search queries, and even respond to visual and video search prompts. The tool will also provide links where users can find more information. It will no doubt be a hit with users. Publishers are worried that the new tool will keep users in the Google ecosystem, allowing Google to further monopolise ad revenue (this week, Google announced that Overviews will, of course, deliver personalised advertising). According to Google, however, testing found that AI Overview links get more clicks than they would if they appeared as ordinary search results. A question to be asked here, of course, is which links will be prioritised by AI Overview. As publishers continue to ink deals with AI companies and, of course, platforms such as Google (if no longer Meta), there’s a danger that rather than an internet that is open and accessible, we are increasingly corralled into walled gardens protecting proprietary information ecosystems.
There are further signs of that with News Corp’s announcement that it has signed a global partnership with OpenAI. In a floridly worded press release, CEO Robert Thomson alliterated on its benefits: ‘We believe an historic agreement will set new standards for veracity, for virtue and for value in the digital age ... We are delighted to have found principled partners in Sam Altman and his trusty, talented team who understand the commercial and social significance of journalists and journalism. This landmark accord is not an end, but the beginning of a beautiful friendship in which we are jointly committed to creating and delivering insight and integrity instantaneously.’ News Corp clearly finds trust in Altman where others see brazen disregard for both intellectual property and the information commons.
Meanwhile, Google is threatening to pause further news investment across the US in response to the proposed California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA). This comes after Google paused news investment in California in April and piloted removing links to Californian news sites. It puts a different spin on their claim that, as they roll out AI-augmented search, they will ‘continue to focus on sending valuable traffic to publishers and creators’.
Google has called the proposal a ‘link tax’, but in reality, like the proposed federal US Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, it is more like Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code in that it will force platforms and publishers to the negotiating table. There’s a difference, which is that negotiations under the CJPA tie payment to a percentage of platform advertising revenue. Payment is then distributed to eligible publishers based on the proportion of user views that their posts or links receive on the platform, relative to other eligible publishers. The bill is being amended after feedback from consultation – including to avoid incentivising clickbait – and is likely to be re-introduced in June. It also contains a clause allowing publishers to bring civil action if a platform refuses to index or otherwise demotes their content; and it requires publishers to spend 70% of proceeds on employing journalists and support staff. There’s also burgeoning regulatory action aimed at tackling platform power, with the FTC’s inquiry into their AI investments and ongoing anti-trust cases brought by the Department of Justice potentially disrupting Google’s hold over search and digital advertising.
Amidst all this, News Corp has managed to extend its US$100m content deal with Google, while News Corp executives have landed in Australia to outline the restructure of local operations, reportedly tasked with saving $65m by the end of the next financial year. News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller will address the National Press Club on 6 June, with a speech titled ‘Australia and Global Tech: time for a reset’. It will be interesting to see how the deal with OpenAI fits into that narrative.
Michael Davis, CMT Research Fellow
