Google to study Competition Commission report on R500m payment

Google said it would review the Competition Commission’s report stating that it could be required to pay up to R500 million a year in compensation to South African media outlets.

This after the Competition Commission’s Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry’s provisional report found the tech giant guilty of anti-competitive practices.

The Competition Commission released a provisional report on Monday on the impact of digital platforms on traditional media.

This is the Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry on how platforms like Google, YouTube and Facebook affect advertising revenues.

‘Study report’

Google said it would study the report in detail but disagreed with the claim that it has taken disproportionate value from publishers.

“In 2023, our products like Google Search and News generated an estimated 350 million rand in referral traffic value for South African publishers while we earned less than 19 million rand from ads displayed next to news queries.

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“Alongside this, we have invested in products, training and partnerships to support publishers and the broader news ecosystem and will continue to do so,” Google said in a statement.

Fine

The commission recommended that Google pay R300 million to R500 million annually for three to five years to correct what it has described as the “imbalance in shared value while putting in place changes to search that will sustainably create shared value with the media through increases in referral traffic.”

“This includes the removal of search bias in favour of foreign media and YouTube and the promotion of vernacular and community media.”

The commission set up an inquiry at the end of 2023 following concerns that some market features in digital platforms that distribute news media content might restrict, distort or impede competition.

Other tech companies

In the draft report, the competition regulator also recommended that YouTube improve the ability of the media and broadcasters, including the SABC, to monetise their content on its platform through increased revenue share to 70% and active promotion of higher-value direct sales by the media.

“To address misinformation, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act should be amended to introduce platform liability for harmful content and the amplification of misinformation. The commission has proposed that the social media platforms partner with and compensate the media on fact-checking.

“Search and social media should share richer anonymised user data for consumers engaging with news content on their platforms to enable improved insights and monetisation of their audiences,” the Competition Commission said.

AI

The competition regulator also recommended the media should be allowed to negotiate collectively with artificial intelligence companies for content deals to train AI chatbots.

“If not, measures should be in place to prevent AI chatbots from favouring global media partners and to drive referral traffic to local news media.

News media

It said the news media is essential for free expression and democracy, informing citizens and holding institutions accountable.

“Globally, the media industry is undergoing rapid change due to the shift to online news consumption, challenging traditional revenue models and necessitating changes to business models.

“While there are challenges that the media must face from the disruptive effect of digitalisation, the inquiry provisionally finds that these challenges are exacerbated by the conduct of platforms that hinder the ability of the news media to secure and monetise digital traffic,” it said. “These digital platforms do not produce news themselves and cannot replace journalism’s role,” the Competition Commission said.

The watchdog will publish a final report later this year, with all parties concerned given until 7 April to submit evidence to support their case.

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