Google News returns to Spain after a seven-year absence

Google News will be available again in Spain for the first time since 2014. The company discontinued the service due to a change in law. Now that the country has amended the copyright directive, Google will reintroduce its news service early next year.

The difference with the old law is that Google no longer has to pay a large fixed monthly fee to index Spanish media news via Google News. Google can now negotiate the rates with individual publications and therefore choose not to include certain media in the service. News media can also choose not to charge any compensation at all.

Google says it will negotiate with Spanish publishers in the coming months to prepare Google News for this new law. According to the search giant, this is a positive change for Spanish readers, as they can now more easily find information from more news sources, which should help fight disinformation. According to Google, the media themselves also benefit from it, because inclusion in the Google News service would bring them many visitors.

In 2014, Spain passed a law requiring publishers to charge money when news gatherers include media content in their services. As a result of this law, Google News closed its doors there. Many Spanish news publishers were not happy about this, because they lost so many clicks and thus revenue. Spain has now decided to keep the directive in line with the EU, requiring publishers to be paid by services like Google News only when they want it.