Google CEO to Speak at Newspaper Convention

Google CEO Eric Schmidt may not seem like the most likely candidate to speak at a newspaper convention, but sources announced that he’ll be giving the keynote address at the Newspaper Association of America’s annual convention. Right now, most print news publishers are seeing a dramatic loss of sales, and many blame online news aggregation services like Google.

Eric Schmidt, Image: Newscom

Analysts estimate that Google is responsible for 20% to 30% of all traffic sent to newspaper websites. In the past, Schmidt has urged newspapers to jump on board with better technology, allowing them to increase their revenue from online readership. Many, however, question the integrity and legality of Google’s News Search and Web Search services. Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp, which owns The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, and other news services, thinks that it is unfair that Google aggregates content without permission from the news sites themselves.

“Should we be allowing Google to steal all our copyrights? If you have a brand like The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, you don’t have to. You can say thanks but no thanks.”

Google says they are well within copyright laws because they only use a few lead words and a link back to the original source. Not everyone has an issue with the links themselves though – just the way they are done. Some say that Google needs to more clearly define news sources. Right now, professional news is linked on lists that also include opinion and commentary from non-professional blog sources.

The Associated Press has plans for a news aggregation service for its members that won’t support Google’s aggregation tools. It will also have a tracking system to ensure that the content isn’t being used illegally elsewhere on the Internet. Many bloggers copy and past entire AP articles, and this would put an end to those practices.