An internal document reveals that Google has consciously chosen to include the content of the sites in the new functions without giving publishers the option to refuse. Basically, if he does not accept, he risks disappearing from the classic searches.
Google uses editorial contents with no separate photo agreement: Shutterstock
In an antitrust process against the company, an internal document revealed that Google deliberately decided not to allow publishers to refuse their content in the positions of the search engine. Although technically it would have been possible, the company preferred to make silent changes in its policy, without public ads.
Thus, publishers later learned that their materials are already used in AI overviews, the function that offers answers generated by artificial intelligence at the top of the search page, without a dedicated agreement.
An impossible choice for publishers
The publishers are in a difficult position: if they want to appear in the traditional search results, they must automatically accept that their texts are used and AI. The only alternative is to completely block Google access to the content, but that means disappearing from Google Search, a major traffic loss.
Google: Too complicated, too expensive
Liz Reid, the head of Google Search, explained that it would be extremely complicated and expensive for the company to implement separate controls for each feature. It would mean dozens or hundreds of different models that need to be maintained simultaneously, each with their own set of rules and priorities.
In Google vision, costs and complexity would be too high to allow individual control publishers on how their content is used, Bloomberg reports.
Editors accuse: Internet becomes an automatic summary network
On the other hand, publishers claim that Google ignores the rights of the original content. Many accuse the Tech giant of transforming the internet into a space where texts are automatically summarized, and users no longer feel the need to enter the source site.
Google turns the internet into an automatic summary network where the texts are consumed without clicking on the sourceclaim several publishers affected.
