Google has released the findings of a recent experiment in Europe, arguing that news content adds little to no financial value to its core business. The search giant says its test results suggest that news is essentially worthless to its ad revenue stream.

The Experiment

For 2.5 months, Google removed news content from search results for 1% of users across eight European markets (excluding France and Germany). The experiment was conducted as part of Google’s response to the EU’s copyright law, which requires platforms to compensate news publishers for using snippets of their content.

According to Google’s report, the absence of news made no measurable difference to user behavior or ad revenue. The value of news to Google’s business, it said, “could not be statistically distinguished from zero.”

Why It Matters

Google appears to be using this data to gain leverage in ongoing negotiations with European publishers over compensation for news content. However, the company is treading carefully.

  • It has already faced significant antitrust fines in Europe, including a $500 million penalty in France over its earlier approach to negotiating with publishers.
  • In Germany, regulators are scrutinizing Google’s handling of news content, forcing the company to make operational changes.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

Google’s decision to exclude France and Germany from the core of its news-removal experiment highlights its regulatory concerns:

  • In France, Google stopped testing after a court warned it could face fines for violating previous agreements with competition authorities.
  • In Germany, Google did not conduct the experiment at all, likely due to heightened regulatory pressure from the country’s Federal Cartel Office.

As Google leans on these findings to argue against high payments for news reuse, regulators in Europe will be watching closely. Any moves that seem to undermine the EU’s copyright directive could trigger fresh legal action.

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