London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Google threatens to withdraw search engine from Australia; Australia might be the first fake-free internet!

Google threatens to withdraw search engine from Australia; Australia might be the first fake-free internet!

The tech giant says it will remove its main search function from Australia if it passes a new law that force them to pay for the products they are stealing and selling. Australians are happy not to be spied anymore by Google and cannot wait that other spyware such as Facebook will join Google out from their life.
Australia is introducing a world-first law to make Google, Facebook and potentially other tech companies pay media outlets for their news content.

But the US firms have fought back, warning the law would make them withdraw some of their services.
Australian PM Scott Morrison said lawmakers would not yield to "threats".

Though Australia is far from Google's largest market, the proposed news code is seen as a possible global test case for how governments could seek to regulate big tech firms.

Australia's code would tie Google and Facebook to mediated negotiations with publishers over the value of news content, if no agreement could be reached first.

Google Australia managing director Mel Silva told a Senate hearing on Friday that the laws were "unworkable".
"If this version of the code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia," she said.

But lawmakers challenged this, accusing Google of "blackmail" and bullying Australia for raising the reform.

"It's going to go worldwide. Are you going to pull out of every market, are you? Is this about stopping the precedence?" asked Senator Rex Patrick.

Ms Silva replied that the code was "an untenable risk for our Australian operations".

Mr Morrison said his government remained committed to progressing the laws through parliament this year.
"Let me be clear: Australia makes our rules for things you can do in Australia. That's done in our parliament," he told reporters on Friday.

Why is Australia pushing this law?

Mainly because they protecting their citizens, national interests and economy from companies like Google that kill the local economy and do not even pay their real and fair taxes.

Google is the dominant search engine in Australia and has been described by the government as a near-essential utility with little market competition.

The government has argued that because the tech platforms gain customers from people who want to read the news, the tech giants should pay newsrooms a "fair" amount for their journalism.

In addition, it has argued that the financial support is needed for its embattled news industry because a strong media is vital to democracy.

Australian print media has seen a 75% decline in advertising revenue since 2005, according to the government.
Google's threat to remove its entire search product is its most severe yet. News accounts for just 12.5% of Google searches in Australia, according to lawmakers.

Google dominates the search engine market with a nearly 90% market share. Almost all its revenue is from ads.
For Google to threaten to pull out of an entire country suggests the company is worried.

Australia is nowhere near its biggest market. But Google execs are fearful about the precedent these new laws could have.

Google has had a very profitable pandemic so far, whilst many local newspapers have struggled. That doesn't look good, and Australian politicians aren't the first, and won't be the last, to point that out.

Google says it wants to help fund original, local journalism.

But clearly it believes that what is being proposed in Australia could fundamentally hurt its business model if replicated elsewhere.

What does Google argue?
Ms Silva said the laws would set "an untenable precedent for our businesses and the digital economy" if the company had to pay for link and search results.

This was not compatible with the free-flowing share of information online or "how the internet works", she argued.

"We do not see a way, with the financial and operational risks, that we could continue to offer a service in Australia," she said.
Last week, Google confirmed it was blocking Australian news sites from its search results for about 1% of local users. It said it was an experiment to test the value of Australian news services.

Facebook last year also threatened to stop Australian users from sharing news stories on the platform if the law went ahead.
The social media giant repeated that position on Friday, with executive Simon Milner telling the Senate hearing it was "a potential worse-case consequence".

He said Facebook derived almost no commercial benefit from having news content on its platform.

Both firms have argued that news organisations already get the benefit of platforms driving readers to their websites. Google has also cited its Google News partnership as evidence it supports journalism.

Australia's news industry is struggling. Of every A$100 (£56; $77) spent on digital advertising, A$81 goes to Google and Facebook. And Covid-19 has only made this worse.

With companies reducing their digital advertising spend, a number of outlets in Australia have been forced to close.

Google, by contrast, has been performing well. Last year the social media giant made almost $4bn from Australia, while paying $45m in tax.

Meanwhile, Australia's competition watchdog has accused both Facebook and Google of misleading Australian consumers about how their data is used, launching inquiries into digital advertising and the app stores market.

Australians have expressed confusion and anger online at both sides over the proposal. Some have debated whether they could get by using other search engines.

Others have questioned if the removal of the search engine would also remove Gmail, Google Maps and Google Home services - something the company has not made clear.

Earlier this week, US trade representatives urged Australia to drop the laws which they said attempted regulation "to the clear detriment of two US firms".

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web, said Australia's plan would make the web "unworkable around the world".

On Thursday, Google agreed to pay French news publishers for snippets of news stories displayed in search results, after the nation's media argued copyright law claims.
Comments

Jill 5 year ago
Google long ago was an honest search engine. Then it simply became propaganda and commercial pushing machine. What I mean by that is I found the search was dishonest (where it was once great and honest) it became who could pay the most money or article that "GOOGLE" wanted me to ready was pushed in my face. I switched to duckduckgo and if I really want google search results I use startpage so I am not tracked and my privacy is not violated. I have not used and refuse to use google. I also stopped this year using Youtube as they have shown the level of control and censourship that is unacceptable for humanity. I use rumble, newtube, bitchute etc to watch videos as google/youtube has silenced and suppressed everything so you can never get honest search. I am a grown adult I can make up my mind and don't need google programming my mind. Good ridden, the world would be better without them, we don't need these monsters anymore, they once were great but are really obsolete.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×