SAN FRANCISCO — There’s an intriguing idea floating around the media: Microsoft wants to undercut Google so badly in Internet search that it might pay newspapers to withhold their content from Google.
Just don’t count on that turning into a lucrative plan for newspapers.
The unorthodox strategy faces stumbling blocks, starting with this one: Microsoft is unlikely to fund a Google boycott, according to three people familiar with Microsoft’s discussions with a variety of publishers. These people spoke on condition of anonymity because talks are still in early stages.
That contradicts other unnamed people who told the Financial Times and other newspapers that News Corp., owner of The Wall Street Journal, is discussing a plan that would block Google from indexing its content in return for an unspecified payment from Microsoft.
The sources in the conflicting reports agree on one point: Microsoft is in talks with media outlets, including The Associated Press, about ways that its search engine, Bing, might be able to showcase stories, photos and videos in a way that distinguishes it from Google.
The discussions could result in new revenue-sharing agreements or other payments — but they wouldn’t necessarily require News Corp. or other publishers to shun Google.
More than 21 percent of the clicks to newspaper websites come from Google, according to the research firm Experian Hitwise. Just 2 percent come from Bing.
Even publishers who are thinking about limiting Google’s access realize that it probably would be counterproductive to cut all ties.
“We are in no shape or form at odds with Google,” said William Dean Singleton, chief executive of ap, a private company that owns more than 50 daily newspapers including The Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News. “There is no question that Google provides us with a large audience for our content, which we monetize with ad revenue.”
Singleton probably will block Google from showing more than mere snippets from two MediaNews newspapers, the York (Pa.) Daily Record and the Chico (Calif.) Enterprise-Record, that plan to start charging to read some of their content early next year.
The rest of MediaNews’ newspapers will remain fully available to Google, according to Singleton, who is also AP’s chairman.
