the temporary disappearance of media from its Search, News and Discover services

Google wants to test its relationship with the media in Europe. The American giant has just announced an experiment: the outright deletion of news content for certain European users.

An experience with considerable stakes

The experiment, which will begin on November 14, will affect 1% of users in nine European countries, including France. Concretely, these “digital guinea pigs” will no longer see any news content in their Google search results, on Google News or even on Discover. A radical test which aims to precisely measure the added value of press content in the Google ecosystem.

This initiative is part of the “Extended News Previews” program, set up to comply with Article 15 of the European Copyright Directive. But make no mistake: behind these technical terms lies a very important financial issue.

Google claims to be responding to requests from regulators and publishers who want concrete data on the impact of news content. But this justification perhaps hides a more complex reality. Indeed, this experience could serve as negotiating leverage in discussions on neighboring rights.

This test nevertheless raises questions: is it acceptable to deprive users, even temporarily, of access to information via the main search engine? The answer is not simple, especially since Google has 92% market share in Europe in online information search.