Google has launched its news showcase in Australia following government legislation plans that would force the search engine to pay for content from media companies in the region.

Last month Google threatened to block its search engine in Australia if the government went ahead with implementing the new code of conduct.

At a public hearing of the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, which is reviewing the proposed new law, Google Australia’s managing director Mel Silva said: “Coupled with the unmanageable financial and operational risk if this version of the Code were to become law, it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia.”

Google’s news showcase is a licensing programme that pays publishers to curate content for story panels across Google services.

The tech giant said that since launching last year, alongside a $1.3 billion AU (US $1 billion) global investment, it has “doubled” the number of publications part of the platform.

There are now 450 publications across the UK, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Japan.
The company has also announced a global deal with Reuters, alongside a number of deals with French publishers, including its top daily newspapers.

“As this early version of News Showcase rolls out, the partnerships will provide financial support for some of the country’s most respected independent, local and regional publications including The Canberra Times, The Illawarra Mercury, The Saturday Paper, Crikey, The New Daily, InDaily and The Conversation,” said Kate Beddoe head of news, web & publishing product partnerships, APAC, Google. “We are looking forward to bringing more Australian media partners on board in the coming weeks and months as we further build out the experience for publishers and users."

Google announced plans to launch the news product in Australia last June, but it was delayed because of regulatory conditions.

On Monday prime minister Scott Morrison said Microsoft is “confident” Bing could replace Google if it decides to withdraw from the Australian market.

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