It all began when the proposed 'News Media Bargaining Code' that is at this time in draft, starts targeting Google and Facebook.
It follows a 2019 inquiry in Australia that found the tech giants to be taking a disproportionately large share of online advertising revenue, even though they take most of their content from outside sources.
Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that drafted the law, suggested that the law should target Google and Facebook, urging them to pay for the news content they aggregate or show on their respective feed.
The ACCC believes the proposed law addresses “a significant bargaining power imbalance between Australian news media businesses and Google and Facebook”, and should not affect Google’s search business in Australia.
In response, Google has threatened to withdraw from the Australian market if the government demands the company to pay for news.
Mel Silva, the managing director of Google Australia and New Zealand, said that if the government's proposals become the law, Alphabet will have "no real choice but to stop making Google search available in Australia."
And this time, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the government is ready for an alternative should Google leave Australia.
That alternative, is Microsoft Bing.
Microsoft has told the Australian government that the company is ready to replace Google Search in Australia, with reports saying that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has had direct talks with the Prime Minister to discuss this Google-less Australia subject.
“I can tell you Microsoft’s pretty confident,” Morrison responded.
“When I spoke to Satya the other day, there was a bit of that,” Morrison said, and referring to the Microsoft CEO.
“Look, these are big technology companies. And what’s important for Australia is that we set the rules that are important for our people,” Morrison said. “And having a news environment in this country that is one that’s sustainable and is supported commercially, then this is vital to how democracies function.”
Morrison also noted that when he met with the leaders of other nations at G20 meetings over the years, he often talked not just about how to keep international corporations accountable through tax, but also about how to get everyone on the same page when it came to antitrust and competition policy issues.
According to Treasurer and member of the Australian Parliament Josh Frydenberg, if the Media Bargaining Code in its current form were to become law, the Prime Minister expects Microsoft to fill the void if Google does exits the market.
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts Paul Fletcher also weighted in, telling that should Google leaves Australia, local investment from other players in the local market are expected to increase.
"This is a potential commercial opportunity for other providers of search."
If Google leaves, despite having a much larger presence in Australia than Bing, the Microsoft search engine should create "a strong market response."
"Ultimately at the end of the day, if you want to do business in Australia, you need to comply with the laws of the sovereign government of Australia -- that's not a particularly radical proposition," Fletcher continued.
"What we've seen in other areas where we've introduced laws that initially have been resisted by global technology businesses is that ultimately they have complied."
