Murdoch may block Google searches

**Maggy** · 10-11-2009, 09:30

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8351331.stm

Quote:

Rupert Murdoch has said he will try to block Google from using news content from his companies. The billionaire told Sky News Australia he will explore ways to remove stories from Google's search indexes, including Google News.
Mr Murdoch's News Corp had previously said it would start charging online customers across all its websites.
He believes that search engines cannot legally use headlines and paragraphs of news stories as search results.

Good luck with that one Mr M..and no wonder the Murdochs have been slamming the BBC seeing as the BBC doesn't charge extra from their customers to use their online content.

10-11-2009, 09:45

Murdoch is a horrible excuse for a human being, and a bit of a nazi.

downquark1 · 10-11-2009, 09:49

1) google already offer control over whether your site is indexed or not

2) They are going to cut off everyone who uses google and searches for specific events

**Paul** · 10-11-2009, 09:52

His loss, if people dont find it in google they will simply read it from another site they do find.

Stuart · 10-11-2009, 10:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earl of Bronze

Murdoch is a horrible excuse for a human being, and a bit of a nazi.

He may well be, but he is not in the newspaper business to give people free access to the news, he is in it to make money. If he is not making money from google, it's his right to stop them indexing his sites.

And, TBH, I agree with him. Google make a lot of money from doing this, yet pass very little on to the content providers they get it from.

**Damien** · 10-11-2009, 10:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart C

He may well be, but he is not in the newspaper business to give people free access to the news, he is in it to make money. If he is not making money from google, it's his right to stop them indexing his sites.

And, TBH, I agree with him. Google make a lot of money from doing this, yet pass very little on to the content providers they get it from.

Don't they just link to their site?

downquark1 · 10-11-2009, 10:48

In my day services paid to be listed in a directory :pp

Stuart · 10-11-2009, 10:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

Don't they just link to their site?

They do, but I don't think that the content providers get anything when people just skim the headlines.

punky · 10-11-2009, 11:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Good luck with that one Mr M..and no wonder the Murdochs have been slamming the BBC seeing as the BBC doesn't charge extra from their customers to use their online content.

Worth pointing out that The Guardian said this first but doesn't quite back up everyone's pre-conceived notions that well.

Stuart · 10-11-2009, 11:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by punky

Worth pointing out that The Guardian said this first but doesn't quite back up everyone's pre-conceived notions that well.

Not a case of pre-conceived notions. More that the Murdoch companies (several of them) have been most vociferous in their opposing of free content in general and the BBC in particular.

Still, the fact remains that the content is owned by News International. It is their right to remove or charge for access to it, and it's also their problem if fewer people view it as a result.

**Damien** · 10-11-2009, 11:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by punky

Worth pointing out that The Guardian said this first but doesn't quite back up everyone's pre-conceived notions that well.

The Guardian said they would block Google?

Peter_ · 10-11-2009, 11:09

Anything that stops people viewing anything to do with News International I am all for it, nice one rupert.

punky · 10-11-2009, 11:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

The Guardian said they would block Google?

I can't find an exact link where Guardian explicit say they will block Google from aggregating their news but here is a link from the time.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/200...06124331.shtml

I did remember The Guardian definitely said they will look at blocking Google from aggregating their news.

Essentially the same complaint.

---------- Post added at 12:24 ---------- Previous post was at 12:19 ----------

I can't find the thread on here but someone did make a really insightful comment. Something along the lines of: Maybe Google can block The Guardian as they are getting a free research tool for their journalists.

**Damien** · 10-11-2009, 11:27

I think The Guardian explicitly said they would not block Google News because it would, obviously, leave them devoid of traffic:

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technol..._about_Google/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guardian

Content creators cannot simply remove their content from the dominant player because the damage to their business would be significant. As such, this increasingly appears to be an issue that requires examination from the point of view of competition law principles.

I don't think headlines count, Google get money from people using them as what is essential a front end to many sites. They still link to the content, which is where the news companies need to find a way to gain profit from their work.

I am not sure where the companies can claim that Google saying "this content can be found here" is unfair. By that logic anyone who makes a site is contributing towards Google's profits by being something to index and therefore should be paid! As the Guardian point out by preventing their site to be indexed they will lose a ton of traffic.

They can't have it both ways. Google gives them traffic and pays for the pleasure of doing so.

TheDaddy · 11-11-2009, 05:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Damien

As the Guardian point out by preventing their site to be indexed they will lose a ton of traffic.

They can't have it both ways. Google gives them traffic and pays for the pleasure of doing so.

Plus they all have adverts, are they going to pay google for each person they direct to their sites? Funny Rupert doesn't mention that, they need each other much like the crocodile and the plover bird and guess which organisation is represented by the slimy reptile.