Canada has agreed to a $100 million annual cap on payments that Google will make to media companies under the upcoming Online News Act, a law requiring compensation agreements between tech giants and news publishers.
The agreement allows Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), to comply by contributing to a collective bargaining group serving as a media fund.
The government's initial draft regulations had suggested a potential payment of up to $172 million, leading to negotiations.
The deal with Google has been deemed a "historic development" by Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, though advocacy groups express concerns about support for journalism. The final regulations, due by mid-December, will clarify Google's payments as assistance to news publishers, not for news links.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has taken a different approach, blocking all news content for Canadian users of its platforms.