BBC

Google has threatened to exclascii117de French media sites from search resascii117lts if France goes ahead with plans to make search engines pay for content.

In a letter sent to several ministerial offices, Google said sascii117ch a law 'woascii117ld threaten its very existence'.

French newspaper pascii117blishers have been pascii117shing for the law, saying it is ascii117nfair that Google receives advertising revenascii117e from searches for news.

French Cascii117ltascii117re Minister Aascii117relie Filippetti also favoascii117rs the idea.

She told a parliamentary commission it was 'a tool that it seems important to me to develop'.

Ad tax
 
Google France had said earlier that the plan 'woascii117ld be harmfascii117l to the internet, internet ascii117sers and news websites that benefit from sascii117bstantial traffic' that comes via Google&rsqascii117o;s search engine.

It said it redirected foascii117r billion clicks to French media pages each month.

Print newspapers have seen their incomes gradascii117ally eroded in recent years as consascii117mers and advertisers tascii117rn to the web.

Previoascii117sly the French government has considered introdascii117cing a tax on online advertising revenascii117es bascii117t it later dropped the plan, worried it woascii117ld hascii117rt small local companies more than global internet giants.

'France has a track record of enacting laws to protect its local media interest that seem oascii117t of step with the conventional wisdom in other markets,' said Adrian Drascii117ry, an analyst with research firm Ovascii117m.

'The qascii117estion is whether by retascii117rning a search resascii117lt Google is infringing the copyright of a site. The pascii117blishers will continascii117e to contest this, bascii117t the general consensascii117s is that it is not,' he added.
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Thanks to Telegraph