Google believes that the South African Competition Commission's recommendations from its Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry will lead to less choice for users and reduce revenues for local news editors.
The Competition Commission (CompCom) of South Africa's recent recommendations – including that Google should compensate the local news media – could negatively impact investment and stifle innovation, according to Google's Government Affairs and Public Policy Regional Director for sub-Saharan Africa, Charles Murito.
He highlighted that the way people interact with news "has changed dramatically" and that the CompCom's inquiry findings "ignore that" and instead "seeks to resurrect outdated business models."
"The Commission's recommendations, if implemented, would force one platform to artificially subsidize certain publishers, based on inaccurate calculations on the perceived value of news to Google's business,"
Murito stated.
"This would also restrict access to information, stifle innovation, and disrupt monetization and future investment,"
he added.
Murito's comments come after the CompCom in February 2025 recommended that Google compensate the local news media between $16.3 million-$27.2 million annually, for at least three years, for alleged anti-competitive behavior.
The provisional report came after a lengthy inquiry by the competition watchdog which included public and on-camera hearings, expert report submissions, consultation with industry role players, a consumer survey and focus group discussions.
The CompCom had a long list of findings aimed at tech companies including Google (YouTube), Meta* (Facebook), Microsoft, OpenAI, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, along with provisional remedies across search, social media, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and digital advertising to address conduct which it believes adversely impacts competition for digital advertising and journalism in South Africa.
Murito said Google will continue to collaborate with the industry and the Competition Commission "to find balanced solutions for the news ecosystem's future," and will invest in tools that help publishers adapt and innovate. However, placing all the responsibility for the change in the way people access news exclusively onto Google - “misses the mark," he said.
"Rather than focusing on outsized product and financial demands from one company, we should jointly seek meaningful solutions between government, business, digital platforms and news publishers themselves,"
he added.
The CompCom has given stakeholders and the public until April 7, 2025, to submit their responses to the Inquiry's initial findings after which a final report will be released.
Murito stated that the proposals from the Competition Commission would result in less choice for users and reduced revenue for publishers. He emphasized that forcing Google to prioritize local news would limit the diversity of sources and infringe on South Africans' right to freedom of expression. Additionally, he pointed out that Google's advertising technologies help publishers generate revenue, but the proposed changes would make this process more complicated and costly. Murito also opposed the digital services tax, which he believes could create trade barriers that could impede cross-border digital trade.
Furthermore, he highlighted the importance of Google's partnership with local publishers, noting that the company sent 545 million clicks to South African news publishers in 2023, creating an estimated 350 million South African rand (US$18.4 million) in referral traffic value.
"We have long said that news content does not have a measurable impact on search revenues or our ad revenues overall,"
he said, citing a recent study that Google ran in Europe.
He also stressed Google's role in supporting independent news publishers through training programs and funding.
*along with its subsidiaries Facebook and Instagram is banned and designated as extremist in the Russia
Source: Connecting Africa
