Google and California are at odds over the news

Residents of the Golden State may soon find out if no news is, in fact, good news. On Friday, Google began removing California news websites from some users’ search results, in response to pending legislation that would require the tech giant to pay news orgs for linking to their content.

The bill, which passed the state's assembly last year with bipartisan support and currently sits in the state’s senate, is framed by advocates as a way to stop the loss of journalism jobs. California has lost more than 100 news orgs in the past decade, according to Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, the bill's author.

Yes, but… This goal could be a tightrope to walk. Google is responsible for ~40% of all news publishers’ traffic, according to SimilarWeb. And the tech giant claims linking to news content helps sites grow free of charge.

• Should the company not play ball with legislators, then all that traffic goes to zilch – somewhat reminiscent of the Facebook algorithm changes of 2014 and 2018 that caused visits to news sites to tank (along with their revenue).

The playbook: Google previously opposed similar media payment measures abroad, including in Spain, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand…before ultimately cutting a deal and acquiescing to demands.

📰📉 Zoom out: Large tech platforms are rethinking if the news juice is actually worth the squeeze. Meta has been actively retreating from the news distribution business, with its most recent move to get rid of the “News” tab in the UK, France, and Germany.