Google's digital publishing innovation fund
help stimulate innovation and increase revenues for French publishers.
Why France?
It's an interesting move. A large, private company pouring capital into a specific country's publishing industry. My first question is, "Why France?" And my second is, "Will they do this for other countries?" As for why France, that I could not discover beyond that Google already has an existing relationship with France. They created a Cultural Institute in Paris in 2011 where they preserve things like the Dead Sea Scrolls. Why in France then? Again, unclear.
Will they do this globally?
But the bigger question for me is whether Google will essentially put money on the table to support innovative digital publishing options in the U.S. or other countries. Chris Crum says don't bet on it.
The way Crum tells it, the real issue going on here isn't a charity case where Google funds French innovation. And it's not really a startup fund for publishing in France either. It's a deal between Google and French publishing companies to pacify ongoing arguments about search displays and advertising. And Crum essentially concludes that every country has a different way of thinking about publishing, and each country will push for its own style of deal.
My breakdown
Crum says the issue boils down to a copyright issue.
"The agreement came after a lengthy battle with publishers who wish to be paid for the privilege of search engines to link (with snippets) to their content. It’s a similar mindset to that of publishers all over the world."
So the issue behind the scenes is that publishers don't want snippets or any other kind of content on Google without getting paid. If that's truly the issue, this sounds a lot like the issues and bickering that went on during the Napster period around music.
What do you think?
Image courtesy of osde8info via flickr
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