Google tests removing links to CA news sites to measure the impact of the California Journalism Preservation Act and pauses investments in the CA news ecosystem
The KeywordJaffer Zaidi
Context & Ripple Effects
Google paired a California-specific link-removal test with a pause in news-ecosystem investments, turning a policy dispute into an observable test of how news availability affects its products and publishers. It followed an earlier, narrower experiment with the Search News filter, where Google said it had no plan to eliminate the tab. earlier testing of the News filter provided a related precedent.
The move became part of a broader bargaining cycle: later coverage described a five-year California local-news support arrangement, while Google used a similar threat of withdrawing links and publisher deals in New Zealand. Its New Zealand response shows the California test was not an isolated product decision.
First-order effects
California news publishers face an immediate risk of reduced visibility from Google during the test, while Google freezes the investments it had been making in the state’s news ecosystem.
Google gains direct evidence from a live California experiment to inform its position on the California Journalism Preservation Act and any negotiations around platform support for news.
Second-order effects
Publishers and California policymakers must negotiate under greater uncertainty about the value and replaceability of Google-referred audiences; the eventual support arrangement suggests the test increased pressure to find an alternative to a mandated payment structure. The subsequent joint funding deal is evidence of that negotiated path.
Other jurisdictions considering platform-payment rules gain a clearer signal that Google may use product availability and investment commitments as bargaining levers, rather than treating news-linking as fixed.
Third-order effects
If this pattern persists, compensation disputes over news distribution will increasingly be settled through jurisdiction-specific funding packages and product tests, not solely through uniform platform rules.
That approach can make publisher support more contingent on negotiated commitments from dominant distribution platforms, leaving the durability and independence of local-news funding subject to recurring policy bargaining.
The trend: News-link compensation fights are evolving into a broader contest over whether platforms can trade access, testing data, and funding commitments for regulatory flexibility.
So @google threatens to censor news in CA rather pay licensing fees in an effort to deter regulation on the eve of critically important elections. This is NOT a TAX, it is an effort to force #BigTech to share the wealth it creates from the work of others https://blog.google/...
Note well that Meta has already said it would completely pull out of news in California — as it did in Canada after its C-18 — if CJPA passes: https://twitter.com/...
but we've seen this rodeo in EU, Australia, Canada where Google/Meta proxies that are digitally savvy former employees (eg Chamber of Progress) and hacks (eg CCIA, NetChoice) champion talking points while Google/Meta drum up press and try to scare publishers to stop spread. 2/2
I don't actually know how forcing search engines and social media sites to pay to link news sites will pan out, but I think Meta has blocked all Canadian news for 8 months now with little fanfare or protest. [image]
lol. I'd be CERTAIN it's just a coincidence these things happened within days: - Jeff Jarvis dropped a report commissioned by Chamber of Commerce criticizing regs addressing Google's market power with quotes from Google shills - Google soft-threatened blocking news in CA. 1/2 [im…
This is now a repeated pattern. Some government decides the way to save newspapers is to pass a law saying Google should pay for linking to news. Google says, we'll just stop linking to news instead. Everyone loses. Today it's California's turn. https://blog.google/...
Google has lobbied the government for years to impose sweeping “net neutrality” rules on its ISP competitors—even though they're not the ones blocking content. But Google is:
I need a ruling here. Does Google's 97% market share in search on mobile due in part b/c of its 40% payouts to Apple really mean it's “blocking?” Ok, I'm kidding. Thank you, DOJ.
Google's temporarily blocking some CA-based news outlets' stories as a tactic to pressure against a state bill meant to force tech giants (mainly Google & Facebook) to pay online publishers. Give 'em hell, California! https://www.politico.com/...
Google: “We're using our monopoly power over search results to influence consumers and harm news organizations during an election year filled with AI generated fake news.” https://blog.google/...
Google is blocking some Calif. news sites today. “Newspaper publishers and the journalists provide a really important service as a part of [Google's] broader business model.. They're going bankrupt & you guys have record profits,” — CA Sen. Ben Allen. https://www.politico.com/...
Ugh. Google is blocking traffic to California news publishers in a “short-term test for a small percentage of California users” as that state weighs an Australia-style link tax. 1/ https://blog.google/...
The California Journalism Preservation Act would require Google and others to pay for simply connecting Californians to news articles. I'm no fan of big tech, but this is legislation so stupid you'd think it was satire. https://blog.google/...
This is so petty. “Google is temporarily blocking California-based news outlets' content... to try to derail such bills in places like Canada and Australia that require online platforms to pay journalism outlets for articles featured on their websites.” https://www.politico.com/.…
Unfortunately, California's news link tax (CJPA) is still alive - despite the disastrous results of Canada's link tax. Google rolling out a test this morning of life under CJPA, with removed links to CA news sites. Also pausing investments in CA news. https://blog.google/... [ima…
Google fires a shot across the bow of the California legislature over CJPA: testing removing links to news & pausing further money to California media. Here's my new paper on CJPA's problems & some alternatives: https://drive.google.com/... Google: https://blog.google/...
Google is removing links to some CA news publishers — it calls us “media conglomerates” — today in protest of the California Journalism Protection Act bill, which would require Google to pay us if it wants to feature news on its platform. Support CJPA!!! https://blog.google/...