New Delhi: Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., re-opened Google News in Spain on Wednesday. The company had shut down the service eight years ago in the country. According to a report by Reuters, Google had left the country as the Spanish government forced news aggregators to pay the publishers for using their snippets.
However, in the ruling passed by the Spanish Government in 2020, companies have been allowed to negotiate directly with Google. This is similar to the European Union copyright rules.
Fuencisla Clemares, vice president for Iberia, said in a blog post, “Today, on the global 20th anniversary of Google News, and after an almost eight-year hiatus, Google News is returning to Spain.”
She has also said that the company is planning to launch Google News Showcase in the country soon. Google uses Showcase as a vehicle for paying the news publishers. Google had announced last year that it was planning to relaunch its platform in Spain the following year.
