Google approaches OFT about changes to merger rules
Google has approached the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in an effort to have it reconsider the rule for UK newspaper mergers.
The search engine giant has submitted a letter to back possible mergers between newspaper printing companies such as Johnston Press and Trinity Mirror as they see a huge slump in revenue and circulation figures.
The letter, written by Matt Brittin, MD of Google UK, said, “Google supports the position of many newspapers for the need to allow for a 21st century merger regime, allowing local and regional news services to merge and consolidate in order to create… competitive news offerings.”
Martin McNulty, client services director, online marketing agency Trafficbroker agrees that the OFT does need to ‘reconsider’ it newspaper merger rules.
Said McNulty: “As Google rightly acknowledges, newspaper share of voice is falling as people consume more news online. Traditional publishers will need all the help they can get to survive the growing hegemony of digital.
"In relation to Google's involvement in this debate, Google still needs original content to index if it is to remain useful, and much of this content comes from traditional publishers. If they are weak, so, too, is Google."