Google News is shutting its service down in Spain, following a new copyright law.
The new legislation, which comes into effect in January, requires every Spanish publication to charge services like Google News for showing “even the smallest snippet from their publications, whether they want to or not.”
Google will start removing Spanish publishers from Google News on December 16th.
For dating companies operating in Spain, and looking to increase their brand with marketing and PR, it is certainly something to be aware of – as it could seriously affect the strategy of their media campaigns.
The tech giant announced the decision in a blog post, saying:
“For centuries publishers were limited in how widely they could distribute the printed page. The Internet changed all that — creating tremendous opportunities but also real challenges for publishers as competition both for readers’ attention and for advertising Euros increased.
“We’re committed to helping the news industry meet that challenge and look forward to continuing to work with our thousands of partners globally, as well as in Spain, to help them increase their online readership and revenues.”
Google make no advertising from the service, which does not run ads, so they say the service is not sustainable in the future.
Read their blog post here.