le restricts access to news content in Canada //
Google will be conducting a test in which the search company blocks news content from Google Search for less than 4% of Canadian users over the next few weeks. Search Engine Land spoke with a Google spokesperson, who confirmed the test and said that it is a potential product response to Bill C-18.
What is being tested. Google is testing blocking news on all Canadian publisher websites in Google Search, Google Discover, and other Google surfaces. This test is restricted to less than 4 percent of Canadians.
Google stated. Google said, “We’re briefly testing possible product responses to Bill C-18 which impact a very small portion of Canadian users.” Each year, we run thousands of tests to evaluate any possible changes to Search.” Google said, “We’re briefly testing potential product responses to Bill C-18 that impact a very small percentage of Canadian users.” Google stated that they are committed to ensuring a sustainable future of news in Canada, and offer solutions to fix Bill C-18.
What is Bill C-18? Bill C-18 would enact the Online News Act, which proposes a regime to regulate digital platforms that act as intermediaries in Canada’s news media ecosystem in order to enhance fairness in the Canadian digital news market, <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/charter-charte/c18_1.html#:~:text=Bill%20C%2D18%20would%20enact,the%20Canadian%20digital%20news%20market. According to the Government of Canada website.
This is what it looks like. We have been searching the internet for examples of this type of change and asked Google to confirm our findings. However, we have yet to hear back from Google as to whether this is the way the blocking will appear to Canadians.
These are just a few examples that we found on Twitter.
History. Similar situation was seen with Australia, where Google removed links from publishers who had to pay for them to do so. We also had this situation with Spain where publishers’ content was restricted and Google was then asked to later return it to its original state.
Why we care. This is just an alert to searchers and publishers to let them know that Google Search may show less content and this could lead to lower traffic to your site. Keep an eye on your analytics, but this is only a small test.
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