Search Engine Optimisation Web Log (BLOG)
Editor: Matt Paines

| This News Blog is dedicated to bringing news, information and innovations targeting the Search Engine Optimisation industry.

News Corp to block search engines

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has said he will try to block the world's most popular search engine from using news content from his companies.

Murdoch is reported as saying he will explore ways to remove stories from Google's search indexes, including Google News.

He believes that search engines cannot legally use headlines and paragraphs of news stories as search results. A doctrine called fair use could be challenged in the courts and would bar the practice altogether, he claimed.

However, he pledged to take that matter slowly at this time.

His company, News Corp has previously said it would start charging online customers across all its websites.

The company had aimed to introduce charges for all its sites by June next year, but indications are that this is now unlikely.

News Corp owns the Times and Sun newspapers in the UK and the New York Post and Wall Street Journal in the US.

Newspapers across the world are considering the best way to make money from the internet, particularly at a time of falling advertising revenues.

Have to say,in my opinion, there is a significant risk that charges no matter how small, will alienate readers who have become used to free content and as a result with the drop in page impressions may deter advertisers yet further. What next, Google to charge for search?

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