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A Google ‘test’ will omit EU publishers from news links

A new Google “test” will exclude results from EU news publishers, affecting users in nine countries. The company says it aims to assess their impact on users’ search experience and traffic.

The company says the time-limited trial will only affect a small portion of users in nine EU countries and will help “assess how results from EU news publishers impact the search experience for our users and traffic to publishers.” But given the fragile state of the news media — and the company’s history of threatening to pull its services in the face of news-related regulations — it’s tempting to view it as the equivalent of a mob boss conducting a “little test” to see how the corner laundromat fares without its protection. Although the bill’s fate is still up in the air, Google struck a deal with state lawmakers this summer, committing tens of millions of dollars to a fund supporting local news. Google says it hopes the data analysis tools it provides publishers will help them use the EU test to “understand traffic patterns.”

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