Azernews.Az

By Bloomberg

Google Inc. will close its news portal in Spain following new copyright legislation that lets publishers charge Internet companies for their content that’s aggregated by other websites.

The Web company will close Google News in Spain on Dec. 16 before the new law takes effect in January, Richard Gingras, the head of Google’s news service, wrote in a blog post.

The owner of the world’s largest search engine has run into regulatory and legislative challenges in Europe this year as its size and reach raise concerns among lawmakers. Last month, members of the European Union parliament urged in a nonbinding vote that the European Commission -- which is investigating Google for possible antitrust violations -- consider splitting up search engines. In May, a court ruled citizens have a right to be forgotten when Internet searches throw up “inadequate, irrelevant, no longer relevant, or excessive” results.

The Internet has created opportunities and challenges for publishers, Gingras said, adding that Mountain View, California- based Google will seek to help publishers.

“We’re committed to helping the news industry meet that challenge and look forward to continuing to work with our thousands of partners globally, as well as in Spain, to help them increase their online readership and revenues,” he said.