Don't Newspapers Owe Google Money For Helping Them Research Stories For Free?

from the of-course-not... dept

Last month, we parodied the mainstream press' criticism that everyone else "owed" them money because they were the original creators of a story, by noting that the press never paid the newsmakers for creating the story in the first place. Danny Sullivan has now taken a more serious look at this, noting that for all the talk about how Google is "stealing" from news publications, those same publications never seem willing to admit how much they rely on Google for their jobs these days -- and perhaps one could make an argument that these publications actually owe Google for helping make them more productive. After all, the newspapers claim they want a "fair share" of the money Google makes since it's using their content for "free." But, the same argument works in reverse. If it's "fair," then shouldn't Google get a share of the money the news publications make, since its reporters use Google's tools "for free"?

Obviously, the real point is that both sides benefit, and each is responsible for putting in place business models that work. Google has done that successfully. Many news publications have not. But no one should be claiming its "unfair" or that someone else owes them money.

Meanwhile, Sullivan's piece also goes into great detail about how a random AP story he found was written after an AP reporter found some stories on some blogs, and used them to do more research and publish his story. But were the blogs on which he found the story credited? Of course not. Did they get "their fair share"? Of course not. Hell, unlike Google linking to publications' stories, these bloggers didn't even get any traffic or attention from the AP reporter, who simply wants to pretend he came up with the story from nothing.

And the AP wants to claim that it's being treated unfairly?
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Filed Under: business models, danny sullivan, fairness, free, journalism, newspapers, research


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  1. icon
    Maclizard (profile), 11 May 2009 @ 11:48am

    Screw the AP

    I work for the primary Newspaper in a Capitol city as a web developer. We pay the AP $250,000 per year in order to "share" content. Screw the AP.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    R. Miles, 11 May 2009 @ 12:20pm

    Why stop there?

    Newspapers shouldn't be the only industry in this role. YouTube should receive millions for advertising their content.

    Movie theaters and radio stations could also benefit from this advertisement.

    After all, Google's only displaying the advertisements of news articles.

    Because, after all, content and ads are the same thing.
    ;)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased), 11 May 2009 @ 12:46pm

    Google referenced

    I have read articles where the author states that they found such and such info on Google and verified the info.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 11 May 2009 @ 2:36pm

    Where's my money?

    I contribute to Wikipedia, where newspapers seem to get all of their information. Where's my check?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Jim Rob Jones, 11 May 2009 @ 3:23pm

    Such BS

    Im sick of hearing about this BS. The newspapers are definitely getting shafted. You webhead idiots should shut the ef up. I don't work for or am affiliated with any newspaper whatsoever. I get my news from the web for free from Google and Yahoo. And all I see is Yahoo & Googles ads. I don't need to click on the link to get all I need of the story. I read the paragraph supplied. The argument is valid. The newspapers and search engines need to work out a better system. The search engines are getting a much bigger end of the stick.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Mojo Bone, 11 May 2009 @ 3:46pm

    Fair's fair. Google should buy up Lexis/Nexus and stop charging newspapers and magazines to use it. Then everybody's happy.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Techsupoort, 12 May 2009 @ 12:26am

    Newspapers

    It’s not just the newspapers – print magazines are hurting too. Blender, Domino, Men’s Vogue…these won’t be the only titles to get the axe. It’ll get worse before it gets better, but I’m also optimistic that some very creative and useful new venues will emerge from the wreckage.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    my two cents, 12 May 2009 @ 11:21am

    Student "project"

    From Yahoo News ... check out this story about a student's journalism "experiment"

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Irish-student-hoaxes-worlds-apf-15201451.html?.v=1

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Sean, 13 Jul 2009 @ 9:35pm

    reply

    A very stylish and ambassadorial answer. It’s really considerable and common.
    Sean Cruz
    foreclosure auctions

    link to this | view in thread ]


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