Well, what a wholly weird and wacky week that was for media watchers. First the good news: we finally saw an end to the impasse between the federal government and Google over Bill C-18. That's a relief, because I was NOT looking forward to having to use Bing if Google pulled Canadian news from its search products.
The upshot of last week's agreement is that Google will now pay $100 million per year into the Canadian media sector for using their links. The money will go into a fund, dispersed to publishers based on size. It will be fascinating to see just how that fund is administered, but that's a discussion for another day.
The upshot of last week's agreement is that Google will now pay $100 million per year into the Canadian media sector for using their links. The money will go into a fund, dispersed to publishers based on size. It will be fascinating to see just how that fund is administered, but that's a discussion for another day.
Naturally, there was some criticism that, for all of its tough talk, the government ultimately capitulated to the tech giant, and lacked the necessary wherewithal to take a hardline stance.
Outspoken academic Michael Geist, who once described Bill C-18 as "a total disaster," acknowledged that this is mostly "good news" for publishers, albeit with some provisos: The broadcast sector, not traditional publishers, will be the "big winner," he said, and the final amount paid by Google is significantly less than the $170 million the Feds had projected.
That's not to mention the additional $50 million it had expected to extract from Meta, which has shown a complete unwillingness to negotiate, and has been blocking news links on Facebook and Instagram since August.
While $100 million is good news for publishers, it's not nearly enough to sustain the Canadian media industry. While it's true that Google and Meta play an outsized role in the dissemination of Canadian news and information, they play zero part in its creation. That's the responsibility of news organizations, and while they've made huge strides in growing their subscription business, they remain largely dependent on advertising to sustain them.
More mindful investment of their media dollars by advertisers and their agencies is the only way to create a sustainable media ecosystem, and as Narcity Media CEO Chuck Lapointe pointed out just today on LinkedIn, there hasn't been nearly enough action.
Of course, that investment should no longer include X, whose owner Elon Musk went on an unhinged rant last week in which he told advertisers who pulled their investment after his latest antics to "go fuck yourself." He then added that "the whole world" would hold them responsible for killing the platform by withholding vital revenue.
It was a remarkable statement, and one that should be the final straw for skittish advertisers who've already been fleeing the social platform en masse. Musk is still hailed by many as a business genius, but in little more than a year, his hubris and shoot-from-the-hip style have cratered the platform's advertising business. That's a remarkable, though ignominious, accomplishment.
Musk's X feed over the past few days indicated that his remarks and the subsequent media coverage was still very much on his mind. In between boastful posts about the new Cybertruck, he pushed the ad-free Premium+ subscription tier on X, accused the other social platforms of being "bought and paid for," and took several shots at advertisers.
The past week underscored the iron grip that big tech has on our media ecosystem, but also reminded us of the importance of advertisers taking a principled stand. Hopefully it won't take something as stark—or stupid—as being told to "go fuck yourselves" to inspire them to take meaningful action.
