Rupert Murdoch Wants All His Sites Removed From Google

by Glynnis MacNicol | 9:19 am, November 9th, 2009

There have been times the past twelve months or so when it’s seemed as though Rupert Murdoch may be attempting to build some sort of way-back machine that would take both him and his media empire back to a safer time when the Internet could not interfere with his newspaper world dominance. The latest evidence is news that Rupe is going to take his newspapers off Google. Not a joke.

Rupert Murdoch has suggested that News Corporation is likely to make its content unfindable to users on Google when it launches its paid content strategy .

When Murdoch and other senior News Corp lieutenants have criticised aggregators such as Google for taking a free ride on its content, commentators have questioned why the company doesn’t simply make its content invisible to search engines…Murdoch claimed that readers who randomly reach a page via search have little value to advertisers.

The saying “cutting off your nose to spite your face” comes to mind. Love it or hate it, taking yourself off Google seems like the 2.0 equivalent to removing yourself from the newsstand and relocation behind a secret door only the chosen few have a key to. Which is a little bit how the Wall St. Journal already operates — you don’t need us to point out the that NYP is not the WSJ.

Meanwhile, being removed from the newsstand is apparently a problem the New York Post is currently facing. From today’s New York Times:

Nearly every paper in America has lost circulation, but The Post more than most — down almost 30 percent in 2.5 years, to 508,000 in the most recent reporting period, against 544,000 for The Daily News. The slide accelerated after The Post’s price returned to 50 cents last year. And this year, The Daily News has surged far ahead in online readership.

In the Post’s defense, they did overhaul their website a short time ago so that it’s now actually navigable. That said, the reasons to visit the site beyond acquiring a jpeg of today’s front cover are sadly slim indeed.

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Google, New York Post, News Corp., rupert murdoch, The State of Journalism

8 comments

m says:

November 9, 2009 at 10:22 am

Bad business strategy. A large percentage of steady hits come from Google. Blocking yourself from Google is like slitting your own throat.

timzank says:

November 9, 2009 at 1:27 pm

Take this with a huge grain of salt. The entire article and it’s subsequent speculation is based upon the opening phrase “Rupert Murdoch has suggested”…..

That’s a far cry from a “done deal” from the shrewdest guy in the media business. Sounds more like an opening salvo for some sort of negotiation regarding compensation & use.

ImNotBlue says:

November 9, 2009 at 1:52 pm

I wonder if we’re missing part of the story here. Are we talking about Google the search engine, providing links to NewsCorp websites… or are we talking about Google News, taking stories? You know, when you search for a story, and it comes up as part of Google News. Either way, I’m not sure this is a solid strategy.

Although… I do understand some of the argument. I know, I know… a “real journalist” isn’t supposed to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, when that person is on the right, associated with FOX in any way, or somehow doing something not Democratic Party approved … but hear me out. Google has become a HUGE empire, and has done so on the backs of other people’s hard work. They’re a search engine, so they direct people to the stuff that other people have done, and make money in the process.

From a business and financial point of view, why should they make money of MY effort? If it weren’t for me producing a product someone wants, they wouldn’t have anything to point to, and thusly wouldn’t be able to make huge profits. Shouldn’t I then get some of that money?

Now, IMO, Google return is seen by increased traffic to the site, and that’s how money is made… so the going through the effort of trying to collect from Google (or any search engine) might prove difficult, and a net negative… especially if Google takes you off the map. So, this could all be for show… perhaps Google caves first, saying “We want your product on our site, we’ll give you a cut of the revenue.” But perhaps Google sees it as a slippery slope, ignores NewsCorp, and then who’s the winner? If I had to guess, it’s a little pushing and shoving, and we’ll see who blinks first.

m says:

November 9, 2009 at 7:27 pm

Google will never give a cut of their revenue. Why should they? Even suggesting something like it is just ridiculous and preposterous. Makes no business sense. Google News isn’t the Apple App Store or iTunes Store.

If anything, it should be the reverse: News Corp ought be begging for Google to even allow them to be apart of the search results.

Markos Moulitsas had a great point: Google should just pre-emptively block all of News Corps search results (in Google News). Just do it right now. It’s not that difficult. After a while Murdoch will realize its insanely stupid. Yes, it cuts into your own revenue. But the amount of traffic getting lost not just from lack of Google hits, but also from blocking out timid web surfers through locking content, will probably make him reconsider his strategy. He’s in the news providing business – not exactly something that’s unique on the internet.

SFPhoto says:

November 9, 2009 at 11:14 pm

Why would Rupert Murdoch, a grillionair, listen to a putz like m?

Joe Callan says:

November 10, 2009 at 7:06 am

Rupe doesn’t have to listen to anyone. He can keep kicking himself in the balls until his stone cold body is buried beneath the outback. He clearly can’t cope with a changing world, and his flailing is rather entertaining.

ImNotBlue says:

November 10, 2009 at 12:54 pm

Joe Callan says:
November 10, 2009 at 7:06 am

We should all be so lucky to “flail” like him. Multiple highly profitable media outlets, while the rest of the landscape contracts… yeah, I think I’ll defer to him on this one, he’s got the experience and resume to suggest he knows what he’s doing.

THEMEDIA says:

November 23, 2009 at 12:21 pm

Please, please, please, how do we encourage this to happen? The positive impact on humanity of having “Faux News” removed from Google News results is incalculable. Do we need a petition? Heck, I’d be willing to donate. Dear, god, I need to go change my pants.

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