By PYMNTS
Google just completed a week with more news headlines than it probably wanted. Some of them were very positive, like earnings in the last quarter going up 32% year-over-year. Some of them were less positive, like the approval by the Senate Panel of the Open App Market Act that will now pass to the Senate floor for a vote.
Then, there was another legislative development whose fate is still unknown, but from which Google may still escape unscathed. On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights held a hearing to debate the benefits and risks of the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA).
This bill, introduced in both chambers last year, essentially establishes a temporary four-year antitrust immunity for news outlets to come together and negotiate collectively with Google and Meta.
By enabling news outlets and publishers to collectively negotiate with the tech giants, including small companies that otherwise wouldn’t have any bargaining power, they could increase their revenues and guarantee the continuation of high-quality journalism and local news.
