News Corp. in talks to cut off Google
News Corporation, the media conglomerate controlled by Rupert Murdoch, has engaged in early-stage discussions with Microsoft about a pact to get paid by Microsoft to remove its news content from Google’s search engine and be available on Bing, according to a person briefed on the matter who spoke anonymously to discuss confidential negotiations.
Murdoch has been vocal of late about getting paid for the company’s content online. News Corporation owns many newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, The Times and The Sun in Britain.
The Financial Times first reported on the discussions, which involve Microsoft possibly paying News Corporation to index its content on Microsoft’s search engine, Bing. The development has the potential for the newspaper industry to finally generate revenue from online news beyond advertising.
A spokesperson for Microsoft was not immediately available for comment. A News Corporation spokeswoman declined to comment.
Microsoft executives have been clear about their intentions to pursue bold measures – and tap into the company’s vast cash reserves – to disrupt Google’s dominant position in the search market.
In a recent interview, Steven Ballmer, the chief executive of Microsoft, noted that Google handled about six times as many search queries as Microsoft, while also producing more than six times as much revenue.
It’s unclear how a partnership with news organizations that fragmented search results and content on the Internet would be received. The notion of walled-off communities on the web falls into a thorny area of debate.