The agreement signed two years ago between Fieg (Federation of Newspaper Publishers) and Google to encourage the passage and enhancement of editorial content on digital platforms was a success. Faced with a catastrophic crisis of traditional newspapers, publishers - the president of Fieg Maurizio Costa clearly stated - had only two paths: to wage war on the new subjects who with their platforms were stealing space from paper media, or to try the road of dialogue to identify the reciprocal advantages of collaborating. The choice fell on this second road also because faced with a revenues in the publishing sector drop by 50% in ten years, it was not possible to initiate any policy of resistance. And this choice is giving positive results for both actors.
In fact, a phase of valorisation of copyright and of the editorial contents conveyed through the Google platform has been launched. This has also led to an economic result which for now appears significant but still modest, but which according to more optimistic estimates can reach 40 million euros a year. Publishers have been able to benefit from data on their users that digital platforms know much better than traditional publishing. Not only that but in these first two years there has been a considerable training activity in which 2000 journalists and 800 publishers' representatives have participated in order to be able to disseminate the correct use of new technologies and, as far as publishers are concerned, the new possibilities marketing skills offered by the in-depth knowledge of the data offered by Google Analytics. Of course, Google has not been outdone as it has seen its advertising revenues multiply.
The prospects for the coming years are even more interesting as both Maurizio Costa and Carlo D'Asaro, Google's representative, underlined in full agreement. In fact, for the next few years, the focus will be on enhancing the business model based on the need to switch to a subscription model for all newspapers, made possible also thanks to the study of the data made available by the digital platform, and to the increasingly punctual defense of copyright and therefore of quality content, for which a premium platform for advertising is also being thought of.
Finally, within the context of the agreement and within the framework of the new rules that Europe and the national authorities should launch shortly, the issue of taxation which affects traditional companies, while the new digital giants have so far been able to circumvent national standards. Surely the path of agreement between newspapers and digital platforms the one that in perspective could lead to an increase in the value of the business for both players appears. Governments should ensure a regulatory framework capable of stimulating cooperation on an equitable basis and not intervene with bans or defenses of the old that could not withstand the overwhelming advance of technology.
And this seems to be the intention of the government, as assured by undersecretary Vito Crimi, who hinted at the possibility of push towards an enhancement of the quality of information, without however penalizing the vitality of citizen journalism which is one of the characteristics of the network. On tax issues, Crimi didn't go too far, like the other speakers, in the meantime Minister Di Maio issued a fiery statement against the link tax just approved by the European Parliament. However, this is not a tax but the right of publishers to block their content published on the network without their consent. In reality, it would be a question of Europe's choice in favor of regulating what is published on the web and in favor of agreements, such as the one made by Google with publishers, to enhance quality content (the production of which has a cost) disadvantage of network piracy.
Finally, it should be remembered that alongside the digital transformation of traditional newspapers, Google will also have to develop agreements with digital native publishers, as indeed it is already doing by welcoming them to its newsstand. But even in this case, the issues of enhancing the quality of information to the detriment of pirated information need to be explored.
