Spanish publishers demand the return of Google News

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Google removed its news aggregation service from Spain a few days ago, but the Spanish Newspaper Publishers’ Association (AEDE) is already asking the government to bring it back.

AEDE claims the removal of Google News will be bad business for the publishing industry overall and will have more of a negative effect on smaller internet-based publications.

The request does not mean a change in the law, meaning if Google were to bring its news service back, it would still need to pay the charges to publishers for distribution, something Google is surely keen to avoid.

AEDE is willing to negotiate terms with Google, but it is unlikely the search giant will even come to the table. Google has a track record of getting its way or simply ignoring the issue.

Google News has quickly become the defining goal for many publications. Hitting the number one spot often draws in hundreds of thousands of unique viewers to the site.

In the past few years, Google has worked on its news algorithm, to ensure only the best articles get to the top. Google has also added tags like "Trending on Google+", "In Depth", "Opinion", "Live Updating" and "Wikipedia" to refine the service.

Google does not actively pick-and-choose what articles hit the top spot, it is all done through algorithm and automation. It makes hitting the top spot a lot more random as the reaching the spot is based on a plethora of factors, including audience size and time of day.

Spain is the only country currently enforcing this tax on news, meaning Google News should continue to operate as normal outside of Spain.

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