Google has responded to Australia's proposal for a Code of Conduct for tech giants [webmasterworld.com] over the concept of paying for news content.

It'll come as no surprise that google feels it provides traffic, and it shouldn't have to pay for the content.

Google Search sends readers from Australia and all over the world to the publishers’ sites for free - helping them to generate advertising revenues from those audiences and convert them into paying subscribers. The traffic we send has substantial value. In 2018 alone, Google sent more than two billion visits to Australian news sites from Australian users, and a further billion visits from users outside Australia.

[australia.googleblog.com...]