Google News could shut down FOREVER thanks to new EU law
The search engine's popular service is under threat over a "link tax"
GOOGLE could be forced to shut down its popular Google News service forever – thanks to an EU regulation.
The search giant is warning over a proposed "link tax" that would see Google paying a fee every time it linked to a news website.
Google News is one of the world's most popular news services.
Available as a website and app, it serves up the latest news from around the world – through linked text and images.
But the European Union – and some news services – and concerned about publishers being compensated, particularly when Google shows snippets of articles in search results.
Now Google has refused to rule out shutting down Google News over the proposed tax, according to the .
Speaking to the newspaper, Google's vice-president of News warned over the ax.
Richard Gingras explained that while "it's not desirable to shut down services", Google was very concerned about the EU's proposals.
Gingras added that the future of Google News depends on whether the EU would alter the "phrasing" of the law.
"We can't make a decision until we see the final language," he said.
Gingras pointed to a 2014 Spanish law that attempted to charge Google for links.
This law was designed to support struggling news organisations – but didn't go down well at Google HQ.
Google News was shut down across Spain, which Gingras said led to Spanish news sites losing out on web traffic.
"We would not like to see that happen in Europe," he explained.
"Right now what we want to do is work with stakeholders."
It's possible that Apple could make similar threats, as the "link tax" would likely affect the Apple News service available on iOS and MacOS devices.
What is Google News?
Here's what you need to know...
- Google News is one of the many services operated by Google, the internet search giant
- It's a news aggregator, which means it collects and displays stories from lots of different sources
- You can access it using the official website, as well as via apps on your smartphone
- The original beta test version of Google News launched way back in September 2002
- And the service didn't officially launch until January 2006
- It's available in 35 different languages
- Content is pulled from around 25,000 publishers globally
Google and news websites have an uneasy relationship.
The search engine drives large amounts of traffic to news outlets – some of which rely almost entirely on Google as a source for visitors.
But Google also scoops up significant amounts of ad money that would've previously been directed at newspapers.
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Google is now fighting the "link tax" law, known as Article 11 in the EU.
If the UK is still within the EU – even during a transition period – then this ruling will likely apply to Google News in Britain.
We've asked Google for comment and will update this story with any response.
Would you miss Google News if it disappeared? And would you be willing to pay for the service? Let us know in the comments!
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