What is happening with Google’s threat to pull search from Australia?
Mel Silva, Managing Director for Google Australia, explains why there is a workable news code that doesn’t break Google Search. Learn more about what the New…
Late last year Josh Frydenberg escalated the threat from news publishers to Google Australia that Google should begin to pay for the news content they are serving in their search results. This threat has now escalated tensions to the point where Google has made a threat to pull Google search from Australia. Google has already taken the somewhat extraordinary step to bury Australian news outlet search results deep down into lower pages of the Google search index.
How Realistic Is It That Google Could Pull Search From Australia?
There have been examples in the past where Google has pulled their services from various markets. In 2010 something similar occurred in China when Google realized they were potentially facing some manipulation from the Chinese government. Some other examples have occurred, e.g. Spain, but it is not the exact scenario like this one. In summary, it is most likely that Australia would back down before we were pulled from Google search, but there is no guarantee of that.
Ultimately Google is a large behemoth that is keen to avoid setting precedents that could then be replicated in other global markets, which is why they are meeting this agitation from Australia with such furore.
How Will This Impact My Paid Google Ad Campaigns?
YouTube ads and Google displaying network would be unaffected by such a change.
Google Shopping and Google paid Search Ads could potentially stop working if this change was to go ahead.
How Will This Impact My Seo Traffic?
There would be a chance Google SEO results would stop showing, removing about 40% of overall site traffic from the average business website.
What Search Engine Alternatives Are There In Australia?
Bing is owned by Microsoft and is a very comparable substitute. It would handle the load of a sudden influx of users (Azure I’m sure?!), and return excellent search results that are basically a parity of Google more or less, with some nuances. Bing has a great paid search ads offering including a very similar interface to Google and even offers “Bing Shopping” Ads.
Bing Ads – Search Results For “toyota parts“
Google Ads – Search Results For “toyota parts“
Facebook’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg Reached Out To Australian Lawmakers Over New Media Rules
Zuckerberg reached out to talk about the code and the impact on Facebook and a constructive discussion followed last week between the social media billionaire, Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and communications minister Paul Fletcher.
But regardless of his efforts, Frydenberg said to the Australian Broadcasting Corp, “No, Mark Zuckerberg didn`t convince me to back down if that`s what you`re asking”, without giving further details of the meeting.
Frydenberg also made a reference to Bing, saying they are energized to fill any gaps in the Australian market, a comment which just proves that Google pulling out of Australia is not science fiction, it’s a possible outcome.
Google Launches News Showcase in Australia
Google News Showcase released in Australia in early February could help strike a happy medium between Google paying news outlets for their journalism and also preserving the integrity of how Search Engines and hyperlinks work.
What Should I Do Next?
Watch the media updates closely. Ask your agency if they are experienced with Bing Ads and how quickly they could react if it was needed to port all paid search advertising from Google Ads to Bing Ads.
As an official Google partner agency, Nimbull is communicating with our Google reps daily for any early updates.
Nimbull staff has been working with Bing ads since 2009, helping its original rollout during its inception in the USA, so please don’t hesitate to reach out if you would like to commence Bing Ads at any time.
