News publishers across Canada are raising concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) summaries produced by the Google (GOOGL) search engine.
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Specifically, newspapers and broadcast media outlets say the AI-generated summaries that top many Google search results are cutting into their online traffic and further eroding their struggling businesses. Some publishers in Canada are claiming that the AI summaries produced by Google are inaccurate.
When Google rolled out its AI Overview feature in 2024, its mistakes made headlines around the world. However, many of those inaccuracies have since been corrected and analysts who cover Alphabet, the parent company of Google, seem to agree that the AI-generated search summaries are now reliable. At the bottom of its AI summaries, Google warns users that “AI responses may include mistakes.”
Media Landscape
Still, that hasn’t stopped news publishers in Canada from levying criticism at AI as it erodes the traditional news business. Paul Deegan, CEO of News Media Canada, which represents Canadian news publishers, says AI summaries are a drag on media companies’ online engagement. “Zero clicks is zero revenue for the publisher,” said Deegan in a recent interview with The Canadian Press newswire.
Canada’s federal government passed the “Online News Act” in 2023 to require U.S. technology giants such as Meta Platforms (META) and Google to compensate news publishers for the use of their content. In response, Meta blocked news content from its platforms in Canada, while Google started making payments under the legislation.
However, the future of that legislation seems uncertain as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that he is open to repealing it.
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