• by Ray Schultz , December 2, 2024

The News/Media Alliance (NMA) is demanding that federal agencies halt Google’s recent updates to its site reputation abuse policy. 

Google's change puts “legitimate and reliable media properties at risk of being removed from search results if they publish affiliate links or partner content,” the NMA charged in a letter to the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. 

This move “eliminates critical revenue/traffic streams for outlets already struggling as Google increasingly keeps users within its “walled garden,” the NMA charges. 

It continues, “Google’s new policy treats important media partnerships like exploitative marketing practices and undermines the financial health of news companies in a way disconnected to actual value or protection for Google users.” 

This decision has the potential to “single-handedly wipe off the map affiliate content traffic and revenue streams that many news organizations rely on.”

The NMA explains that in a blog post announcing the change, Google noted that it takes into account “many different considerations (and we don't simply take a site's claims about how the content was produced at face value) to determine if third-party content is being used in an abusive way.” 

The letter argues, “This is yet another example of Google placing itself in between news publishers and their readers.”

The letter was signed by Danielle Coffey, president and CEO of the News/Media Alliance.