European Publishers Play Lobbying Role Against Google

In private sessions in the summer of 2015, giant publishers and media companies from Germany, France and elsewhere have met with European officials about proposals to regulate Europe’s digital economy. The discussions have covered a broad range of contentious issues, according to public disclosures and several people who attended or were briefed on the meetings. Central to almost all of them has been limiting the reach of a single American company: Google.

The company has a long list of detractors crying foul about how it operates in Europe, including rivals like Microsoft and Yelp. But as Europeans take a lead globally in regulating the Internet and containing American tech companies, the Continent’s old media -- influential newspaper and magazine publishers -- are emerging as one of Google’s most persistent adversaries. With Google attracting attention and ad revenue that once funneled to publishers, the goal is clear: Find ways to make more money, by strengthening copyright rules and limiting Google’s power as an advertising platform.