Canada’s Bill C-18 and Our Search and News Products

This breaks the way the web and search engines have worked for more than 30 years, and changes the rules for linking to Canadian news publications.

Search is built on links and the value that both users and websites get from being connected to each other. Last year alone, Google linked to Canadian news publishers more than 3.6 billion times, helping them make money with ads and new subscriptions. This free traffic drove an estimated $250 million CAD worth of value to Canadian publishers.

However, Bill C-18 changes this. It puts a price on links (a “link tax”), and when you put a price on linking to information, you no longer have a free and open web.

We’re willing to pay to support journalism in Canada. In fact we already do, and we’re willing to do more. Unfortunately though, when you put a price on links, you break the way the web and search engines work.

As a result, we have informed the Government that we have made the difficult decision that, when the law takes effect, we will be removing links to Canadian news publications from our Search, News, and Discover products. In addition, we will no longer be able to operate Google News Showcase in Canada.

We don’t take this decision or its impacts lightly and we’re disappointed it has come to this.

In particular, independent and local news organizations and those focused on underserved, marginalized, and Indigenous communities. As always, consulting with industry groups and associations will be integral to our approach.

Once in effect, we will unfortunately be removing links to Canadian news publications from our Search, News, and Discover products. In addition, we will no longer be able to operate Google News Showcase – our product experience and licensing program for news – in Canada.

We encourage all Canadians to visit their preferred news outlets' websites directly – or download their app – and sign up for newsletters or subscriptions so that they can stay up to date with the latest news directly from the sources that matter most to them.

Importantly, this change will not impact SOS alerts, which surface relevant and credible safety information during crisis situations such as forest fires, floods, and earthquakes in Search and other Google products.

Canadian news organizations affected by these changes will be determined based on the scope of the law and the implementing regulations. We expect our approach to be refined over time.

We repeatedly offered constructive feedback on the Government’s bill and recommended solutions that would have made it more workable for both platforms and publishers, unlocking further financial support for Canadian journalism. We also endorsed the alternative model of an independent fund for Canadian journalism supported by both platforms and the Government, an approach that’s worked elsewhere. We appeared several times before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications and submitted detailed recommendations to both committees.

Although we advocated for reasonable and balanced amendments to the legislation for over a year, none of our suggestions were accepted.

As the Bill was approaching final passage and Royal Assent, the Government did agree to discuss the possibility of addressing some of these critical issues, which we welcomed. However, they have been unable to provide us with any certainty that the regulatory process will be able to resolve structural issues with the legislation. This includes issues around forced payment and uncapped financial liability, simply for showing links to Canadian news publications.

As a result, we have informed the Government that we have made the difficult decision that when the law takes effect we will be removing links to Canadian news publications from our Search, News, and Discover products in Canada.

We sort through hundreds of billions of webpages to find the most relevant, useful results in a fraction of a second, and present them in a way that helps you find what you’re looking for online.

The links we provide to Canadians are helpful and valuable for publishers. Last year alone we linked to Canadian news publishers more than 3.6 billion times, helping them make money with ads and new subscriptions, growing their traffic and expanding their audience. This free traffic drove an estimated $250 million CAD worth of value to Canadian publishers.

Most businesses welcome the fact that people can find them in Search results or Google News — and if they don’t, they can choose to opt out with simply a few clicks.

Last year alone we linked to Canadian news publishers more than 3.6 billion times, at no charge, helping them make money with ads and new subscriptions. This free traffic drove an estimated $250 million CAD worth of value to Canadian publishers.

In 2021, we launched Google News Showcase in Canada, which currently supports more than 150 publications across Canada, paying news publishers to license curated and paywalled content. And, since 2018, the Google News Initiative has been providing tools, training, and funding to Canadian journalists and journalism students to support the shared goal of enabling a healthy, independent, and diverse news ecosystem.

Google makes money from ads, and we don't run ads on Google News nor in the News Tab in Search. Most of our revenue comes from Search queries for highly commercial topics, like when someone searches for ‘running shoes’ and then clicks on an ad. Businesses want their ads to appear against queries when a user is looking to buy a product or find a good deal. It’s these types of queries that lie at the heart of our Search ads business, not news queries.

Linking to news content is also helpful and valuable for publishers, something that this new law unfortunately does not recognize. Last year alone we linked to Canadian news publishers more than 3.6 billion times, helping them make money with ads and new subscriptions. This free traffic drove an estimated $250 million CAD worth of value to Canadian publishers.

In 2021, Google’s products and tools helped provide $37 billion of economic activity for Canadian businesses, publishers, creators, developers, and nonprofits. This is equivalent to 1.5% of Canada’s GDP, more than the economic impact created by the forestry and aviation industries combined. Additionally, in the last five years alone, we have provided over $16.5 million in Google.org grants to Canadian charities and nonprofits, helping them expand the reach of innovative digital skills programming, empower Canadians to stay safe online, and build more inclusive economic opportunities for Indigenous communities. Additionally, in 2021 alone, the Google Ad Grants program provided more than $100 million in donated advertising to nonprofits across Canada, and Google for Nonprofits provided over 10,000 Canadian nonprofits with Google Workspace for Nonprofits access, valued at more than $30 million.

We’re also deeply committed to news in Canada. Through Google News Showcase, we’ve signed agreements that support 150+ Canadian publications, paying them for curated content and to share articles that would otherwise be behind publisher paywalls. And the Google News Initiative provides tools, training, and funding to help support Canadian news organizations, independent journalists and students to innovate and adapt.

Further, last year alone we linked to Canadian news publishers more than 3.6 billion times, helping them make money with ads and new subscriptions. This free traffic drove an estimated $250 million worth of value to Canadian publishers.