Andy Beal makes an incredible observation. Of course, Rupert Murdoch has executed a full court press and it is interesting that Google is making an offer to publishers on the very day that Rupert Murdoch speaks before the FTC. Either Murdoch’s power play will pay off big time or it will backfire and he’ll fall on his own sword.
But here’s an even more incredible bit of news, Beal quoting The Financial Times:
The study of 101,000 articles published by 157 newspapers found that more than 75,000 sites reused 112,000 almost exact copies without authorisation, and a further 520,000 articles in part…The study found Google accounted for 53 per cent of the advertising being run alongside unlicensed stories… (Beal’s emphasis)
If Google accounts for 53% of the advertising that runs alongside scraped content, that makes the search engine an accomplice in theft, doesn’t it? Maybe Rupert Murdoch has a point. But the question is, What will become of this situation in the future? I’ve got a feeling this isn’t going to go away.
