Topic: Axel Springer SE

German Publisher Group Sues Google Again Under Draconian Copyright Law

A group of German publishers has filed a civil complaint against Google. The group, constituted as VG Media, claims to be enforcing Germany’s “Ancillary Copyright” Law, passed in 2013. This is the latest episode in an ongoing dispute between German news publishers and Google. Essentially, the publishers are suing to get Google to pay them […]

War And Peace: Bloomberg’s Massive History Of Google’s EU Antitrust Case

If you want a history of Google’s search battles with European antitrust regulators, a new article from Brad Stone (and colleagues) at Bloomberg will more than satisfy you. While there’s very little truly new information, the well-researched (and lengthy) piece is nearly comprehensive and captures all the intrigue, as well as the evolving nature of the dispute. The article is provocatively […]

SearchCap: Bing Talks Search Share, Matt Cutts On Future With Google & Major Drop In Traffic After Loss Of Snippets

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing: It’s Unlikely That We’ll Take Search Share Away From Google Microsoft’s Director of Search admitted this week that Bing isn’t likely to put a significant dent in Google’s search market […]

German Publisher Axel Springer: Loss Of Snippets Caused 80 Percent Traffic Drop

Axel Springer, Germany’s largest publisher and the owner of Europe’s largest newspaper, has said it wants back in to snippets. According to Reuters, the German publishing giant revealed that traffic to its four largest online properties from Google search results “had fallen by 40 percent” and referrals from Google News had dropped “by 80 percent in the past […]

Publishers To EC: We Want More From Google Or We’ll Sue

As we discussed last week, the current Europe-Google antitrust settlement is dead. This is a surprising turn of events considering that it was once described by European regulators as essentially a done deal. Outgoing European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia confirmed last week in a talk at Georgetown University that a deal could not be finalized before he leaves office in a […]

Google Wins Round Against German Publishers, Who Vow To Fight On

The convoluted saga of Google News in Germany took another turn on Friday when regulators declined to pursue an antitrust claim against the company brought by “VG Media,” a consortium of German publishers including publishing giant Axel Springer. Reuters covered the decision but didn’t do a very good job of explaining it or providing context. […]

German Publishers Opt-In To Google News — For The Moment

Following the enactment of a controversial copyright law in Germany, Google said that it would require publishers to formally “opt-in” to Google News or be excluded from results. Accordingly major German publishers have decided to do so — for now. The new law, which went into effect today and gives publishers almost total control over […]

German Parliament Hears Experts On Proposed Law To Limit Search Engines From Using News Content

Yesterday, the Judiciary Committee of the German Bundestag — Germany’s national parliament — held an expert hearing on a proposed “Leistungsschutzrecht” law for news publishers. The law, known as “ancillary copyright” in English, would require search engines and others — perhaps even Facebook, Twitter and individual bloggers — to pay news publishers if they link […]