The vow to sever Google traffic to New Zealand news sites—made in a blog post by the search giant on Friday—echoes strategies the firm deployed as Australia and Canada prepared to enact similar laws in recent years.
It followed a surprise announcement by New Zealand's government in July that lawmakers would advance a bill forcing tech platforms to strike deals for sharing revenue generated from news content with the media outlets producing it.
The government, led by center-right National, had opposed the law in 2023 when introduced by the previous administration.
But the loss of more than 200 newsroom jobs earlier this year—in a national media industry that totaled 1,600 reporters at the 2018 census and has likely shrunk since—prompted the current government to reconsider forcing tech companies to pay publishers for displaying content.
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