Google Ordered To Pay Sa Media Millions

South Africa's Competition Commission has ordered Google to compensate local news media between R300 million and R500 million annually to address the imbalance in digital advertising revenue.

The commission's provisional report, released this week, found that Google benefits from South African news content by nearly R900 million per year, while local media suffer losses of up to R500 million. The report also targeted other tech giants, including Meta , Microsoft , OpenAI, X, and TikTok, accusing them of harming competition and weakening the country's media industry.

Competition commissioner Doris Tshepe said the inquiry, launched in 2023, found that digital platforms profit from news media output without creating content themselves.

It also revealed that search engine and social media algorithms favour foreign media over local publishers, reducing referral traffic and limiting revenue opportunities.

Google must adjust its search algorithm to promote South African news, while Meta has been ordered to stop deprioritising news content on Facebook . YouTube must increase revenue shares for local media and improve monetisation for broadcasters, including the SABC , as per Mail Guardian .