Google News executive resigns amid tensions with publishers

Shailesh Prakash, a prominent executive from Google’s news division, has resigned amid ongoing tensions between the search giant and publishers. Prakash held the position of Vice President and General Manager for Google News, and his departure comes as the company faces increasing scrutiny over its business practices, particularly concerning advertising revenue and the use of artificial intelligence.

Prakash’s resignation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal and the exact circumstances leading to his departure remain unclear. Google has not provided any comment on the matter.

Prakash joined Google in November 2022, bringing with him extensive experience from his previous role as Chief Product and Technology Officer at The Washington Post, where he served for 11 years. During his tenure at The Washington Post, he was instrumental in steering the newspaper towards digital transformation and developing an in-house advertising technology business.

The departure coincides with Google being under fire from publishers, including the News Media Alliance, which represents over 2,200 publishers. The core concern revolves around Google’s introduction of the “AI Overviews” feature, which adds an automatically generated summary at the top of its search results, often pushing links to publishers’ sites further down. Critics argue that this feature significantly affects website traffic, which is vital for maintaining advertising revenue.

Aside from the AI Overviews issue, Google is accused of using publishers’ copyrighted content to train its artificial intelligence models without appropriate credit or compensation. The company is also reportedly navigating efforts to bypass legislative actions intended to ensure technology companies contribute fairly to the news industry.

These issues align with broader legal challenges facing Google. The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a significant antitrust case against Google, accusing the company of monopolising digital advertising technologies to the detriment of publishers and advertisers. Earlier this year, a federal judge determined that Google maintains an illegal monopoly over online search, with remedies expected to be outlined next year.

Furthermore, emails revealed by The Washington Post indicate that Google has been lobbying against international regulations, particularly Canada’s Online News Act, which compels companies like Google to compensate publishers for displaying their content.

The outcome of these legal actions and the pressure from publishers could have substantial implications for Google’s operations and the broader digital advertising landscape. Closing arguments for the DOJ’s case are scheduled for 25 November, with a final verdict anticipated in the early months of next year. Meanwhile, the ruling on Google’s search monopoly by Judge Amit Mehta, expected by next summer, will potentially delineate new boundaries for the tech giant’s market practices.

Source: Noah Wire Services