Michael Gorodisher’s Post

🔕 Google is on the verge of discontinuing links to California news websites. If you rely on Google Alerts, this might feel like your morning coffee has been snatched away. But fear not, ManagrAI has you covered! ManagrAI curates news from thousands of outlets and social media posts. It's designed to keep you in the loop, minus the unnecessary noise. But ManagrAI doesn't just deliver news, it helps you comprehend it with interactive summaries. Begin your news journey for free at app.managr.ai/register. Stay informed, stay ahead, and never miss a beat on California news!

America's Newspapers, the leading association of news publishers in the United States, applauds the recent verdict finding #Google in violation of #antitrust laws. This landmark decision marks a crucial step toward fostering fair competition in the #digital advertising market and protecting the future of local journalism. This verdict confirms what our members have long experienced: Google’s monopolistic practices have harmed local news organizations, have significantly impacted local newspaper revenues, and have limited local publishers’ innovation in the digital advertising space. By leveraging its dominant position in search and digital advertising, Google has unfairly disadvantaged news publishers, limiting their ability to monetize content and reach audiences effectively. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ePFxm-Vt

In light of the bloodbath for NZ news media this week, some interesting analysis on Big Tech v News from over the ditch. TL;DR: Meta doesn’t want news on its platform if it’ll be made to pay for it. It’ll then ban news (as it has in Canada), whereupon misinformation will flourish because people are not exposed to enough quality information about public affairs. As a natural optimist, I’d love to think our government would do something to stem a cultural slide into sensationalism, outrage and conspiracy if we want to maintain a stable democracy as our chosen form of governance. The challenge in maintaining the media’s role as ‘the fourth estate’ - as well as its fundamental role in democracy both of holding power to account and providing a common understanding of the world around us - really comes down to governments, including ours, closing tax loopholes exploited by big tech. That’s the real issue. After all, as the EU Tax Observatory points out in its Global Tax Evasion Report 2024 (link in thread) global tax competition and evasion is not a law of nature, it’s a policy choice. Imagine if our government actually took a global leadership position on this, standing on a platform that already exists - New Zealand’s international reputation for progressive policy. We’ve been David against Goliath many times. It may be naive to think we could make real change on this issue - but I prefer that to contemplating the alternative future - we only have to turn our eyes to America’s political landscape for a glimpse of that.

Lots of talk last week about the federal government’s tête-à-tête with social media giant X, regarding what Elon calls censorship and our government calls being a decent corporate citizen that shouldn’t broadcast (literal) acts of terror. But I digress, because the story that has perhaps escaped a few, is this - covered by Rick Morton in his usual meticulous detail in The Saturday Paper: the federal government’s spat with Meta and to a lesser extent Google, and whether the latter two should pay for local news content served through its platforms. Throw in the views and agendas of a few news organizations looking to flex some muscle, and there’s a bit to unpack. (Sidebar: how good is long form journalism?) Meta threatening to pull Facebook out of Australia is no small deal. Putting aside the fact that my mum would be shattered (she loves ‘the facebook’), there are many implications that extend well beyond your local marketplace vendor flogging an old couch. Lots of organizations - corporates and community - will require a rethink on what they do to promote and protect their reputation. Despite the shift in age and demographics of who makes up the bulk of Facebook’s users today as younger active users switch to other platforms, its exit would leave a not insignificant sized hole.

It's a miracle that the free Internet lasted as long as it did. It's been nearly 30 years of mostly unfettered, free content access to everything from magazine articles and newspapers to videos and recipes. The steady devolution of the online advertising business made free online content an economic equation that no one could solve. If you need further evidence that your free internet is evaporating like snow on an early spring day, look at CNN.com. The popular online news platform, an arm of the still popular cable news network, is putting up a paywall. It won't block you from seeing all CNN.com posts but will limit the number you can see for free. It's unclear if that will be a few a day or a dozen per month. However, once you hit the limit, CNN.com will prompt you to subscribe for $3.99 a month or $29.99 a year. That's not a lot, and for all-you-can-eat access, some might consider it a bargain. Even so, it'll be an adjustment, especially for those who've been accessing the site since it launched "on the World Wide Web" in August of 1995. #internet #subscriptions #web

The local news media sector’s Public Notice Portal will undergo a second major phase of development with new funding from the Google News Initiative to deepen public engagement with public notices. Tindle Newspapers Ltd. CEO and NMA chair Daniel Cammiade said: “We are delighted to be able to partner once again with Google to further improve the local news media sector’s public notices offering. “The new PNP functionalities will strengthen local democracy by deepening public engagement with the notices while saving local authorities time and money, helping to drive the new government’s growth agenda. “The PNP complements and enhances local news media’s role in promoting public notices which is underpinned by the vital statutory requirement for local authorities to advertise public notices in printed local newspapers.” https://lnkd.in/g3dN-_tP

Google has started blocking news articles for some people in California, the company announced on Friday. Stories from California-based news organizations will not be available for an unspecified number of state residents who use Google to search the web, in a show of its might as Google attempts to quash a proposal it has been fighting for years. It is an approach Google has deployed before in the face of laws forcing the company to pay for journalism. Critics of the tech giant's hardball tactics have compared it to blackmail. In California, the pending law in question would force tech companies like Google and Meta to pay publishers for news content. Supporters say it would offer a lifeline to California's news organizations, which have long been shedding jobs. But Google has been resisting the bill, arguing that being subject to what it calls "a link tax" for connecting California residents with news articles is "unworkable." Google and Meta have developed something of a playbook in response to efforts requiring the tech giant to financially support the ailing news industry. A spokesperson for Meta did not reply to questions about whether it too would begin restricting California news. Previously, Meta had promised to do so. Under the California measure, Google and Meta would have to pay news outlets when the companies sell advertising against news articles. Backers of the bill say it would infuse California's news industry with much-needed support in a moment in which publishers have seen subscriptions and advertising revenue precipitously decline. At least 70% of digital advertising revenue has been collected by Google and Meta, according to Insider Intelligence. The Department of Justice has sued Google over its grip on digital advertising, with federal officials alleging it amassed such power by violating U.S. competition laws. In California, advocates of the bill say Silicon Valley has a responsibility to pay news publishers for the astronomical profits it has reaped from serving people news articles. Big Tech companies have not been the only ones critical of the push. Other skeptics said if a fee for displaying links were applied to the rest of internet, it would break "the open web" by making information less accessible. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Christina Warren, an outspoken advocate for software engineers, called payments for hyperlinks "obscene," since they are "antithetical to the open web and everything it stands for." Nonetheless, advocates of the bill, which was also introduced last year but did not gain traction, are hoping it advances and reaches Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has not yet weighed in the legislation. ✍️ Bobby Allyn | NPR 📸 Don Ryan/AP

A parliamentary committee in Australia has recommended the introduction of a “digital platform levy” targeting tech companies like Meta and Google, alongside a fund to help traditional news media diversify their revenue streams. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gzSdZGDu #DigitalPlatformTax #TechCompanies #TraditionalMedia #CorporateGovernance #Regulators

IN THE TIMES NEWSPAPER TODAY: Fenimore Harper Communications's newest report on the worsening disinformation problem plaguing Meta, Google and the web. 🚨 - 43% of Meta ads about Kier Starmer contain harmful financial disinformation, including deepfakes, fake news and duped websites. 📺 - Prince William, Ed Davey, John Major (!!) and Kier Starmer himself are all target of deep-fake manipulation and voice cloning. 🚩 - These ads reached up to 860,000 people before any action was taken. 💸 - Up to £21,000 has been spent on over 250 individual adverts. 🔵 - Google's 'AI Summaries' promotes the disinformation when users search 'is this a scam?' This campaign shows that the disinformation on Meta’s platform is getting worse, not better. Compared to the campaign we uncovered early this year, there are twice as many ads and twice as much money has been spent on them. These ads were detected with Fenimore Harper Communications A.I. powered risk-detection system which, in part, uses Meta's own Llama 3.1 model. OUR COMMENT: "Our findings show that more must be done to curb online disinformation. These campaigns can now impersonate well-known figures with ease, and sow disinformation online at an unprecedented rate.
They pose a huge risk to individuals, public figures, businesses and to our democracy. "Transparency in online advertising following the 2016 presidential election helped to somewhat slow widespread sharing of false news. 8 years later, another step-change is needed. "Recent events have shown how even small pieces of false information can cause serious harm if not addressed immediately. Platforms, the government, the public and the media all need to be doing more to support the healthy and safe online discussion. "There's no silver bullet. A portfolio of measures need to be identified and implemented with haste. As a first step, we believe that even more transparency, from all online platforms, will allow the public to better scrutinise and understand the information they are being presented with. "