The European Google blog has posted a rejoinder to newspapers there. Call it a shot across the bow after one was shot across its own.
In particular, it challenges the newspapers' recent declaration in Europe that implied Google and other search engines were gaining universal access at no cost. Not so, Google says, and it weighs in with some data and arguments. Indeed, the same arguments have surfaced in recent months in the U.S., where some media organizations have vilified Google as technology that serves as a vampire on content.
The blog notes 25,000 news organizations now make their content available to Google's search engine. A simple piece of code could lock it out.
"They do so because they want their work to be found and read -- Google delivers more than a billion consumer visits to newspaper web sites each month. These visits offer the publishers a business opportunity, the chance to hook a reader with compelling content, to make money with advertisements or to offer online subscriptions."
The ball is now returned. Next play. . .