Google is a 'red rag to the newspaper industry'

The Guardian Media Group's director of digital strategy has told an industry conference that newspapers need to 'think beyond Google' to find a rights system for aggregated content.

Speaking at the Beyond the Printed Word conference in Vienna, Simon Waldman called Google a 'fantastic red-rag' that had, over recent months, got the newspaper industry 'excited and infuriated'.

He said newspapers needed to address a fundamental shift in how news was distributed online - calling it a 'shared problem that needed a shared solution'.

"This is not just about now, it's not something that we want to crack this year or next year . . . it's not about an individual player, it's about an over-arcing trend in how content is distributed," he added.

Mr Waldman said new online revenue streams were needed and that advertising could not be relied upon for sole income. He also said legislation might be needed to make search and aggregation services pay for content.

"I want our content to be distributed widely and I want a fair share of distribution rights," he said.

"It's not about putting company X out of business, it's about creating a business distribution model."

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