Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age

Changes from January 28, 2022 to May 24, 2023

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Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the
~~January 28, 2022~~May 24, 2023
Digital Age
Dana A. Scherer
During the During the ~~last~~past 20 years, more than 200 local daily newspapers have either reduced their 20 years, more than 200 local daily newspapers have either reduced their
Specialist in Specialist in
publication frequency or ceased publishing altogether. Among those that publication frequency or ceased publishing altogether. Among those that ~~survive~~survived, many employ , many employ a
Telecommunications Telecommunications
a fraction of the journalists that they did at the turn of the 21st century, and fraction of the journalists that they did at the turn of the 21st century, and many publish far publish far ~~fewer~~
Policy Policy
~~original local~~fewer original, local, and investigative news stories than they did previously. As a result, in order and investigative news stories than they did previously. As a result, in order ~~to get~~

to get local news, thousands of U.S. communities rely on “ghost newspapers” that are shells of local news, thousands of U.S. communities rely on “ghost newspapers” that are shells of ~~their~~
Clare Y. Cho
their former selves and may rarely employ full-time professional local journalists. Researchers Analyst in Industrial report that, among other societal effects, ~~former selves or, if they have internet service, on websites or chat groups that rarely employ full-~~
~~Analyst in Industrial~~
~~time professional journalists. Among other societal effects, researchers report that the lack of a~~
~~Organization and Business~~
~~daily newspaper to monitor local governments and publicly traded companies and hold them~~

~~accountable~~the lack of a daily newspaper to monitor local Organization and Business governments and publicly traded companies can lead to increased financing costs to make up for can lead to increased financing costs to make up for investors’ lack of trust. In 2000, daily newspaper industry revenue peaked at $89 billion, adjusted for inflation in 2020 dollars. Twenty years later, the revenue had fallen by 80%. Although some large, national newspapers continue to thrive, the newspaper industry as a whole has contracted. Websites and mobile apps enabling individuals to access news without a subscription have increased competition for readers and advertising. Between that 20-year period, revenue~~investors’ lack of trust.~~

~~Daily newspaper revenue, adjusted for inflation, has fallen approximately 80% since it peaked at~~
~~$89 billion in 2000. Several factors have led to the contraction of the newspaper industry, with the exception of large,~~
~~national newspapers. Technological developments enabling citizens to access news without a subscription from websites and~~
~~mobile apps have increased competition for readers. Revenue~~ gains from online gains from online newspaper advertisements (from $0 to $3.1 billion) have not replaced revenue losses from print newspaper advertisements. Some technology companies both compete and collaborate with newspaper publishers for online advertising revenue. For example, in addition to competing with newspapers’ websites for display advertising revenue, Google sells ad spaces (i.e., areas on websites/mobile apps set aside for online advertisements) on behalf of online publishers. Likewise, Google buys ad spaces on behalf of companies seeking to market goods or services to consumers with advertising (i.e., advertisers). For each step of the process—known as the ad tech stack—Google earns commissions from both buyers and sellers. In January 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice joined eight states in filing a lawsuit against Google, alleging that the company is violating antitrust laws by engaging in unlawful conduct to monopolize the ad tech stack. An additional 16 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico filed a similar suit in 2021. In January 2021, a judicial panel combined this suit with multiple suits filed by newspaper publishers, advertisers, and others. Google claims these allegations mischaracterize its business and the degree of competition within the ad tech stack. In addition, some online platforms—such as news aggregators (e.g., Apple News and Google News) and social media (e.g., Facebook)—can both enhance and diminish the ability of newspaper publishers to reach viewers. By acting as intermediaries between newspapers and their readers, these online platforms may increase consumers’ awareness of newspapers’ websites and prompt consumers to visit them. Alternatively, the headlines, snippets (small portions) of articles, and photographs displayed by these online platforms may dissuade consumers from visiting newspaper publishers’ own websites. This may impede the newspapers’ ability to collect data about their readers and generate revenues from their websites/mobile apps via subscriptions and advertising. The Copyright Act generally prohibits online platforms from distributing full articles from newspaper publishers without their express consent. Courts determine whether a third party’s use of copyright material violates this law on a case-by-case basis. In June 2022, the U.S. Copyright Office published a report titled Copyright Protections for Publishers at the request of several members from the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. The report assessed the viability of establishing “ancillary copyright” protections for press publishers that would require online news aggregators to pay publishers for using excerpts of their content. The Copyright Office did not recommend amending copyright laws for this purpose, noting that stakeholders who filed comments with the office emphasized that the publishers’ challenges were due more to competition issues rather than copyright issues. Some Members of 118th Congress have introduced bills that may help newspaper publishers. For example, the Advertising Middlemen Endangering Rigorous Internet Competition Accountability Act (S. 1073) would impose certain restrictions related to the ad tech stack. Online advertising revenues that would otherwise accrue to advertising technology firms could flow to the newspaper publishers who sell advertising on their papers’ websites. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2023 (S. 1094) would potentially increase the relative bargaining power of newspaper publishers. Congressional Research Service link to page 5 link to page 5 link to page 7 link to page 8 link to page 10 link to page 12 link to page 13 link to page 13 link to page 16 link to page 17 link to page 18 link to page 19 link to page 20 link to page 22 link to page 22 link to page 24 link to page 25 link to page 27 link to page 28 link to page 29 link to page 29 link to page 30 link to page 30 link to page 31 link to page 31 link to page 32 link to page 32 link to page 32 link to page 32 link to page 34 link to page 34 link to page 34 link to page 6 link to page 8 link to page 11 link to page 21 link to page 23 link to page 25~~newspaper subscriptions have not replaced~~
~~revenues lost as subscriptions to print newspapers decline. In addition, a large share of advertising that formerly appeared in~~
~~newspapers has shifted to online platforms. Likewise, for local and regional newspapers, revenues from online editions of~~
~~newspapers have not replaced revenues lost from print editions.~~
~~Business decisions by news aggregators such as Apple News and Google News and by social media platforms such as~~
~~Facebook also affect the viability of newspapers. As intermediaries between newspapers and their readers, these online~~
~~platforms can help increase newspapers’ readership. However, they can also impede the ability of newspapers to sell~~
~~subscriptions and collect data about their readers, which can be key to selling online advertising.~~
~~While some online platforms pay some newspapers for the right to distribute their articles, details about the agreements~~
~~between online platforms and newspapers typically are not publicly available. Some news aggregators and social media~~
~~platforms distribute “snippets” (i.e., small portions) of articles without the copyright owner’s consent, claiming that they~~
~~consider snippets to be “fair use” of publishers’ content under the Copyright Act. In October 2021, the U.S. Copyright Office~~
~~announced that, at the request of Congress, it is evaluating the effectiveness of current copyright protections for publishers in~~
~~the United States. The report is due in May 2022.~~
~~Authorities in several jurisdictions, including the U.S. antitrust agencies, the United Kingdom, Australia, the European~~
~~Union, and several state attorneys general, have alleged or are investigating allegations that online platforms have engaged in~~
~~anticompetitive behavior in ways harmful to newspapers. Among other potential harms, the behavior could have potentially~~
~~impeded the ability of newspaper publishers to maximize their revenues from online advertising and subscription sales. In~~
~~August 2021, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated 20 suits against Google, including one filed by the~~
~~attorneys general of 16 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. These lawsuits allege Google’s various roles in the~~
~~advertising buying and selling process enabled it to inhibit competition and, among other effects, divert revenue from~~
~~newspaper publishers.~~
~~Members of the 117th Congress have introduced several bills intended to support newspaper publishers by amending antitrust~~
~~law to allow news content creators to negotiate jointly with online content distributors (H.R. 1735; S. 673); by limiting the~~
~~reach of online platforms (H.R. 3825); and by providing tax credits for employing local news journalists (H.R. 5376). The~~
~~Future of Local News Act of 2021 (H.R. 3169; S. 1601) would create the Future of Local News Committee to examine the~~
~~state of local news and make recommendations related to the ability of local news to meet information needs. Other~~
~~congressional actions could eventually result from the Copyright Office study and pending litigation.~~
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~~Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age~~

31 Congressional Research Service Congressional Research Service

link to page 6 link to page 6 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age

Introduction
Digital communication has made it easier for individuals to access a wide range of information, Digital communication has made it easier for individuals to access a wide range of information,
including news and upcoming events, from multiple sources. For example, including news and upcoming events, from multiple sources. For example, ~~information about an~~
~~upcoming concert might be advertised in a local newspaper, posted on the performers’ website,~~
~~and shared on social media.~~residents suffering from a local weather disaster can obtain critical information about recovery efforts from a local newspaper article, a local government authority’s website, or an alert from friends via social media platforms.1 This digital transformation has changed the consumption and This digital transformation has changed the consumption and
production of news and reduced revenues at local newspapers. production of news and reduced revenues at local newspapers.
Some Members of Congress have expressed concern about the decline of newspapers and have Some Members of Congress have expressed concern about the decline of newspapers and have
introduced bills to support newspapers and journalists. This report provides an overview of trends introduced bills to support newspapers and journalists. This report provides an overview of trends
in the newspaper industry, discusses newspapers’ relationships with online platforms,in the newspaper industry, discusses newspapers’ relationships with online platforms,12 and and
examines how the structure of online advertising affects newspapers’ funding. examines how the structure of online advertising affects newspapers’ funding.
Changing Patterns of News Consumption
The majority of Americans get at least some of their news—including content from newspapers—The majority of Americans get at least some of their news—including content from newspapers—
from digital devices, according to a from digital devices, according to a ~~2020~~2022 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center. survey conducted by the Pew Research Center.~~2 Among~~
~~online news sources, most age-~~3 Among those surveyed about their sources for online news, most age groups preferred news websites and apps,groups preferred news websites and apps,4 but respondents aged 18 but respondents aged 18
to 29 listed social media platforms to 29 listed social media platforms (e.g., Facebook) as their as their ~~main~~preferred source of news.5 When asked about which form of media they use to “often get news,” 8% of respondents cited print publications, compared with 23% who citied social media platforms, 14% who cited ~~source of news. In another 2020 survey, 14% of~~
~~respondents cited daily printed newspapers as the principal medium from which they often get~~
~~news, compared with 23% citing social media sites (e.g., Facebook), 23% citing~~ search engines search engines
(e.g., Google), and (e.g., Google), and ~~34% citing~~25% who cited news websites or apps (see Figure 1). Some of these 1 See, for example, Thomas Rodriguez, “Cape Coral Brings Weeks-Long Burn Ban to a Halt Following Hurricane Ian,” Fort Myers News-Press, November 23, 2022, at https://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/cape-coral/2022/11/23/cape-coral-terminates-temporary-burn-ban-exempts-hurricane-debris/10762600002/; Charlotte County Florida, “Storm Recovery,” at https://www.charlottecountyfl.gov/departments/public-safety/emergency-management/storm.stml; and Facebook, “Public Group: Hurricane Ian Updates and Relief,” at https://www.facebook.com/groups/334640605104234/. 2 In this report, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) uses the term online platform ~~news websites or apps, including those operated by cable~~
~~television networks and local broadcast stations (Figure 1).~~

~~1 In this report, CRS uses the term “online platform”~~ as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD): “a digital service that facilitates interactions between two or more distinct but interdependent Development (OECD): “a digital service that facilitates interactions between two or more distinct but interdependent
sets of users (whether firms or individuals) who interact through the service via the internet.” Examples include search sets of users (whether firms or individuals) who interact through the service via the internet.” Examples include search
engines, social media, and app stores. engines, social media, and app stores. ~~Jeremy West~~OCED, , An Introduction to Online Platforms and Their Role in the Digital
Transformation (Paris: OECD (Paris: OECD Publishing, 2019), p. 20, at https://doi.org/10.1787/, 2019), p. 20, at https://doi.org/10.1787/53e5f593-en. 3 Naomi Forman-Katz and Katerina Eva Matsa, “News Platform Fact Sheet~~53e5f593-en.~~
~~2 Elisa Shearer, “More Than Eight-in-Ten Americans Get News From Digital Devices,” Pew Research Center, January~~
~~12, 2021~~,” Pew Research Center, September 20, 2022, at https://www.pewresearch.org/, at https://www.pewresearch.org/~~fact-tank/2021/01/12/more-than-eight-in-ten-americans-get-news-from-~~
~~digital-devices/. “~~journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/. Digital devicesDigital devices” refers to smartphones, computers, and tablets; Michael Barthel et al., refers to smartphones, computers, and tablets; Michael Barthel et al., “Measuring Measuring
News Consumption in a Digital EraNews Consumption in a Digital Era,,” Pew Research Center, December 8, 2020, Pew Research Center, December 8, 2020, pp. 4-5, at https://www.pewresearch.org/at https://www.pewresearch.org/
journalism/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2020/12/PJ_2020.12.08_News-Consumption_FINAL.pdf. journalism/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2020/12/PJ_2020.12.08_News-Consumption_FINAL.pdf.
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~~Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age~~

~~Figure 1. News Consumption by Medium: 2020~~
~~Percentage of Respondents Who “Often” Get News from Each Media Platform~~

Source: Pew Research Center, “Journalism and Media: Datasets: American Trends Panel Wave 68,” at
~~https://www.journalism.org/?post_type=dataset. Pew 2020 News Measurement Study~~4 The term app refers to type of application software designed to run on a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet computer. Apps—while small, individual units with limited functions—frequently serve to provide users with services similar to those accessed on personal computers. Apps are divided into two broad categories: web apps, which run through browsers, and native apps. Native apps are built for a specific mobile operating system, usually Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android. Margaret Rouse, “Dictionary: Privacy and Compliance: Mobile Application,” Techopedia, August 7, 2020, at https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2953/mobile-application-mobile-app. Apple and Google offer app “stores” that enable users to download native apps. See CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10752, The Open App Markets Act, by Jay B. Sykes. 5 Naomi Forman-Katz and Katerina Eva Matsa, “News Platform Fact Sheet,” Pew Research Center, September 20, 2022, at https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/. Congressional Research Service 1 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age news websites and apps are operated by traditional media outlets, such as newspapers, cable television networks, radio networks, and broadcast stations. Figure 1. News Consumption, by Medium, 2022 Percentage of Respondents Who “Often” Get News from Each Media Platform Source: Naomi Forman-Katz and Katerina Eva Matsa, “News Platform Fact Sheet,” Pew Research Center, September 20, 2022, at https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/news-platform-fact-sheet/. Note: Results based on self-reported responses to survey questions. .
Note: Results based on self-reported responses to survey questions.
~~Digitization of News~~
Newspapers have been offering their articles online since at least January 1994, when theNewspapers have been offering their articles online since at least January 1994, when the Palo
Alto Weekly published the first online newspaper.published the first online newspaper.36 While some local print newspapers While some local print newspapers
successfully made the transition to digital media, others struggled to adapt.successfully made the transition to digital media, others struggled to adapt.47 Digital media has increased consumers’ access to news stories, but it has also decreased news publishers’ ability to distinguish themselves with exclusive content. Although publishers distribute daily print newspapers only at set times, they can post and update online news content throughout the day.8 One study in 2020 found that about one-fourth of online news stories are republished on a different website within four minutes of their original publication.9 6
~~Digital media has changed the way news is distributed. While daily print newspapers are released~~
~~only at set times, online news content can be added and updated continuously throughout the~~
~~day.5 News content posted online can be produced and disseminated quickly; one study found that~~
~~one-quarter of news content posted on one site would be posted on another site within four~~
~~minutes.6 News publishers that started in other forms of media, such as television broadcasting~~
~~and radio, started offering their content online.7 The emergence of digital-native newspapers8~~

3 Sacha Wunch-Vincent and Graham Vickery, Sacha Wunch-Vincent and Graham Vickery, The Evolution of News and the Internet, OECD Working Party on the , OECD Working Party on the
Information Economy, Information Economy, ~~Paris,~~ June 11, 2010, p. 8, at https://www.oecd.org/sti/ieconomy/June 11, 2010, p. 8, at https://www.oecd.org/sti/ieconomy/
oecdexaminesthefutureofnewsandtheinternet.htmoecdexaminesthefutureofnewsandtheinternet.htm~~. (~~ (hereinafter OECD June 2010 ReportOECD June 2010 Report.)
4). 7 Damian Radcliffe and Christopher Ali, Damian Radcliffe and Christopher Ali, Small-Market Newspapers in the Digital Age, Tow Center for Journalism, , Tow Center for Journalism,
Columbia University, Columbia University, ~~New York, NY,~~ November 15, 2017, at https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/November 15, 2017, at https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/
doi/10.7916/D8WS95VQ. doi/10.7916/D8WS95VQ.
58 Bertin Martens et al., Bertin Martens et al., “The Digital Transformation of News Media and the Rise of Disinformation and Fake NewsThe Digital Transformation of News Media and the Rise of Disinformation and Fake News,,”
European Commission, Joint Research Centre Technical Report Working Paper 2018-02, April 2018, at European Commission, Joint Research Centre Technical Report Working Paper 2018-02, April 2018, at
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/default/files/jrc111529.pdf. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/default/files/jrc111529.pdf.
69 Julia Cage, Nicolas Hervé, and Marie-Luce Viaud, “The Production of Information in an Online World,” Julia Cage, Nicolas Hervé, and Marie-Luce Viaud, “The Production of Information in an Online World,” Review of
Economic Studies, vol. 87, issue 5 (October 2020), pp. 2126-2164. , vol. 87, issue 5 (October 2020), pp. 2126-2164.
~~7 For example, National Public Radio started as a network of public radio stations and Fox News started as a cable~~
~~television news channel; both now publish content on their own websites and apps as well.~~
~~8 This report uses the term “digital-native news publishers” to refer to news publishers that only offer their content~~
~~online or those that started online; some may also be referred to as “online media companies” or other similar terms.~~
~~Some of these publishers specialize in specific subject areas (e.g., TechCrunch, which focuses on the tech industry and~~
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~~Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age~~

~~further increased the number of outlets providing news, some of which became substitutes for~~
~~print newspapers.9~~Congressional Research Service 2 link to page 8 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age Many news publishers that started in other forms of media, such as newspapers, television broadcasting, and radio, now offer their content online.10 The online content both replicates and supplements the news content featured in paper editions of newspapers and on on-air broadcasts of radio and television stations.11 The emergence of digital-native news publications has further increased the number of outlets providing news,12 some of which have become substitutes for print newspapers.13
The digitization of news can affect local news coverage. Some news publishers may not have an The digitization of news can affect local news coverage. Some news publishers may not have an
incentive to report on all topics covered by local newspapers. incentive to report on all topics covered by local newspapers. ~~Publishers~~Moreover, some publishers may not have an may not have an
incentive to conduct in-depth investigations of local affairs, which can be costly and time-incentive to conduct in-depth investigations of local affairs, which can be costly and time-
~~consuming, if they are unlikely to increase the number of subscribers.10 In~~ consuming, especially if it might not be of interest to current and potential readers.14 In addition, some national news publishers~~addition, some~~
~~newspapers~~ have been able to attract readers from across the country by selling subscriptions to have been able to attract readers from across the country by selling subscriptions to
~~their digital products.11 This can adversely affect smaller, local newspapers that lack the resources~~
~~to create digital products, potentially affecting~~their digital products, which may affect users’ engagement with local issues. engagement with local issues.
15 Newspaper Revenue Trends
Traditionally, the primary Traditionally, the primary ~~revenue~~ sources of sources of revenue for daily print newspaper publishers have been print daily print newspaper publishers have been print
subscriptions and print advertising.subscriptions and print advertising.
~~Daily newspaper revenue, adjusted for inflation, has fallen approximately 80% since it~~ Competition from online platforms and websites for readers and advertisers, however, in conjunction with business decisions by both newspaper publishers and online platforms’ parent organizations, have led to newspaper industry revenue declines. As Figure 2 indicates, in the 20 years since newspaper industry revenues, adjusted for inflation, peaked at peaked at
~~$89 billion in 2000. The share of newspaper publishers’ revenue derived from online advertising,~~
~~adjusted for inflation, has increased over the last 20 years, from 2.6% in 2004 ($2 billion out of a~~
~~total of $46.2 billion in 2020 dollars) to 35.4% in 2020 ($3 billion out of a total of $9.3 billion).~~
~~Thus, advertising revenues from newspapers’ websites and apps have grown in importance, but~~
~~not by enough to prevent a sharp overall decline in industry revenues.~~
~~The few daily newspapers with a national and/or international readership, such as the~~ ~~New York~~
~~Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the Washington Post, have experienced different~~
~~advertising trends than those with a local or regional readership. As journalism professor~~
~~Penelope Muse Abernathy wrote in a June 2020 report, national newspapers “have a journalistic~~
~~mandate and a business model, which rely on scale and reach, that are very different from that of~~
~~either the state and metro papers or smaller community papers.”12 This scale and reach enable the~~
~~national papers to attract national advertisers in addition to local advertisers, and thereby generate~~
~~more online advertising revenue than their local counterparts.13 In addition, as described below,~~

~~start-up companies), while others~~$89 billion in 2000, they declined approximately 80%.16 Two sources of newspaper revenue declined, and one source increased. Revenues from print advertising declined 92%, from $73.2 billion in 2000 to $6 billion in 2023. Subscription revenues declined by more than 50%, from $15.8 billion in 2000 to $7.8 billion. According to research firm S&P Global, the newspaper industry did not generate any online advertising revenue in 2000 and generated $3.3 billion in advertising revenues in 2020. Thus, advertising revenues from newspapers’ websites and apps 10 For example, National Public Radio started as a network of public radio stations, and Fox News started as a cable television news channel; both now publish content on their own websites and apps. 11 See, for example, Kenneth Gosslin and Joseph F. Nunes, “Chapter 11: The Digital Age Takes Hold Post 9/11,” Post 9/11: Digital Age Takes Hold, The Hartford Current, October 19, 2014 (describing evolution of the news posted on the website of The Hartford Current as part of a 250-year anniversary retrospective of the newspaper). 12 This report uses the term digital-native news publishers to refer to news publishers that offer their content online only or those that started online; some may also be referred to as online media companies or other similar terms. Some of these publishers specialize in specific subject areas (e.g., TechCrunch, which focuses on the tech industry and start-up companies), some provide broader coverage of national events (e.g., Business Insider, HuffPost, and Breitbart), while others focus exclusively on local community news (e.g., MinnPost [focusing on Minnesota news] and Patch). 13 ~~provide broader coverage of national events (e.g., Business Insider, HuffPost, and~~
Breitbart).
9 Matthew Gentzkow, “Valuing New Goods in a Model with Complementarity: Online Newspapers,” Matthew Gentzkow, “Valuing New Goods in a Model with Complementarity: Online Newspapers,” American
Economic Review, vol. 97, no. 3 (2007), pp. 713-744; John Dimmick, Yan Chen, and Zhan Li, “Competition Between , vol. 97, no. 3 (2007), pp. 713-744; John Dimmick, Yan Chen, and Zhan Li, “Competition Between
the Internet and Traditional News Media: The Gratification-Opportunities Niche Dimension,” the Internet and Traditional News Media: The Gratification-Opportunities Niche Dimension,” Journal of Media
Economics, vol. 17, no. 1 (2004), pp. 19-33. , vol. 17, no. 1 (2004), pp. 19-33.
1014 Stigler Committee on Digital Platforms, “Final Report: News Industry Subcommittee Report,” Chicago Booth Stigler Stigler Committee on Digital Platforms, “Final Report: News Industry Subcommittee Report,” Chicago Booth Stigler
Center, 2019, atCenter, 2019, at ~~https://research.chicagobooth.edu/stigler/media/news/committee-on-digital-platforms-final-report~~, pp. , pp.
139-205139-205;. Bertin Martens et al., “The Digital Transformation of News Media and the Rise of Disinformation and Fake Bertin Martens et al., “The Digital Transformation of News Media and the Rise of Disinformation and Fake
News,” European Commission, Joint Research Centre Technical Report Working Paper 2018-02, April 2018, at News,” European Commission, Joint Research Centre Technical Report Working Paper 2018-02, April 2018, at
https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/default/files/jrc111529.pdf. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/default/files/jrc111529.pdf.
1115 For example, see Lisa George and Joel Waldfogel, “The For example, see Lisa George and Joel Waldfogel, “The New York Times and the Market for Local Newspapers,” and the Market for Local Newspapers,”
American Economic Review, vol. 96, no. 1 (2006), pp. 435-447. , vol. 96, no. 1 (2006), pp. 435-447.
~~12 Penelope Abernathy, News Deserts and Ghost Newspapers: Will Local News Survive?, Center for Innovation and~~
~~Sustainability in Local Media, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, June 2020, p. 13, at~~
~~https://www.usnewsdeserts.com/reports/news-deserts-and-ghost-newspapers-will-local-news-survive/ (Abernathy June~~
~~2020 Report). The New York Times Company 2020 Annual Report, p. 4 (NYT 2020 Annual Report).~~
~~13 According to Thomas Hunter, chairman and CEO of group newspaper owner McClatchy, national advertisers, in~~
~~order to reach readers nationwide, prefer to negotiate a “seamless and turnkey” arrangement, rather than engage in~~
~~multiple negotiations with various local newspaper publishers. Sarah Fischer, “Gannett, McClatchy Team Up to Sell~~
~~Ads,” Axios, February 15, 2021, at https://www.axios.com/gannett-mcclatchy-advertising-sales-local-f87fa8db-cc60-~~
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~~large publishers are less reliant on advertising technology intermediaries such as Google,14 and~~
~~are therefore able to retain a greater share of online advertising revenues than small publishers.~~
~~In 2020, for example, the New York Times generated approximately 58% of its advertising~~
~~revenue from online advertising.15 In contrast, for three leading publishers of local daily~~
~~newspapers, Lee Enterprises Inc., DallasNews Corp., and Tribune Publishing Company, the~~
~~proportions of total advertising revenue generated by online advertising in 2020 were 36.8%,16~~
~~35.9%,17 and 27%,18 respectively.~~
~~Figure 2. Sources of Daily Newspaper Industry Revenue~~
~~Figures in $ Billions, Adjusted for Inflation in 2020 Dollars~~

Source: CRS analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Inflation adjustment based on Bureau of
~~Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.~~
Notes: Advertising revenue includes both national and local advertising. In nominal terms, newspaper publishers
~~generated $48.2 bil ion in 2004.~~

~~4bf6-9ea4-a8b033d6aa52.html.~~
~~14 In 2015, Google reorganized and formed a new parent organization, Alphabet. Alphabet’s core businesses, including~~
~~search and advertising, operate under the umbrella of the Google brand. See “Larry’s Alphabet Letter,” Founders’~~
~~Letters (blog), August 10, 2015, at https://abc.xyz/investor/founders-letters/2015/. See also Google, “About,” at~~
~~https://about.google/.~~
~~15 New York Times Company, SEC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 27, 2020, p. 3. (NYT 2020 SEC~~
~~Form10-K).~~
~~16 Lee Enterprises Inc., SEC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2020, p. 20. (Lee 2020 SEC Form~~
~~10-K.)~~
~~17 A.H. Belo Corporation, SEC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, p. 13 (DallasNews 2020 SEC~~
~~Form 10-K). In June 2021, the company changed its name from A.H. Belo Corporation to DallasNews Corporation.~~
~~18 Tribune Publishing Company, SEC Form 10-K, p. F-21 (Tribune SEC Form 10-K). Tribune ceased to be a publicly~~
~~traded company in 2021, when hedge firm Alden Global Capital purchased the company.~~
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~~Online Competition for Local Advertising~~
~~The internet transformed the local advertising market for newspapers, unleashing competition~~
~~from online platforms and websites. The launch of the free online classified advertising website~~
~~Craigslist in 199619 coincided with the falloff in newspapers’ revenue from print classified~~
~~advertising. In addition, some newspaper publishers themselves invested in online classified~~
~~services such as Cars.com, Apartments.com, Autotrader.com, and CareerBuilder, which siphoned~~
~~off classified advertising from newspapers.20~~
~~In 2000, print newspapers generated 40% of their local advertising, or $19.6 billion, from~~
16 CRS analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Inflation adjustment based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. Congressional Research Service 3 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age have grown in importance but not by enough to prevent a sharp overall decline in industry revenues. Figure 2. Sources of Daily Newspaper Industry Revenue Adjusted for Inflation in 2020 Dollars Source: CRS analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Inflation adjustment based on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. Notes: Advertising revenue includes both national and local advertising. In nominal terms, newspaper publishers generated $48.2 bil ion in 2004. S&P Global ceased tracking these data in 2021; figures are the most recent available. Historical data through 2012 come from the News Media Alliance, or NMA. From 2013 on, S&P’s estimates are based on analysis of financial statements from publicly traded U.S. newspaper publishing companies. Online Competition for Readers: Free Versus Paid Subscriptions The decline in daily circulation revenue coincided with a decline in daily circulation, including both print and online subscriptions. Pew Research Center reports that in 2000, U.S. newspapers collectively had an average weekday (Monday-Friday) circulation of 55.8 million in the United States and an average Sunday circulation of 59.4 million.17 Pew estimates that in 2020, these figures had dropped by about 56%, to an average weekday circulation of 24.3 million and an average Sunday circulation of 25.8 million.18 During that same period, however, newspaper subscription prices increased. Adjusted for inflation in 2020 dollars, the average revenue per subscriber grew from $279/subscriber in 2000 to $309/subscriber in 2020.19 17 “Newspapers Fact Sheet,” Pew Research Center, June 29, 2021, at https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/newspapers/. Pew bases its 2000 circulation figures on data reported by the trade publication Editor and Publisher. 18 Ibid. The estimates for 2020 are based on Pew’s analysis of data from the Alliance for Audited Media, which exclude figures from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. 19 CRS analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Inflation adjustment based on the BLS Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. Congressional Research Service 4 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age Meanwhile, newspaper publishers weighed how many news stories, if any, to make available online at no cost. In 1996, when The Wall Street Journal launched its online edition, its publisher Dow Jones & Company opted to charge readers.20 The New York Times Company’s strategy has evolved. After initially beginning a subscription program in 2005, the publisher opted in 2007 to make the website of its namesake newspaper available at no charge. In reaching its decision, executives stated that the value of online advertising generated from readers finding New York Times articles via search engines and links on other sites outweighed the potential of lost online subscription revenue.21 In 2011, the New York Times Company began to limit monthly access to free articles on the New York Times website to 20 per month.22 A 2017 article in the Columbia Journalism Review found that most of the 25 most popular U.S. daily newspapers enabled visitors to access some or all of their online news stories at no charge, especially visitors from online platforms and social media.23 Also according to that 2017 article, citing an interview with the senior vice president for digital marketing at Tribune Publishing (formerly called “Tronc”),24 “[t]he reason Tronc publications make an exception for search referrals ... was to comply with Google’s First Click Free program. Google normally only indexes publically-available Web pages, that is, those not behind paywalls.” 25 Likewise, Tribune opted to enable users referred from social media platforms to access stories at no charge. In October 2017, Google ended its policy that led some media outlets with strict paywalls to appear lower in its search engine results, enabling publishers to select the number of articles a Google user could read without paying.26 In March 2018, it launched a “Subscribe with Google” feature aiming to make it easier for Google users to subscribe to news publications.27 Trade publication Digiday reported that as of December 2022, news publishers’ online subscription strategies continued to vary.28 Some require subscriptions to access certain or all stories; some allow readers to access a limited number of articles at no charge, while others offer a combination. In its analysis of these strategies, Digiday stated The L.A. Times, Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune are regionally focused publications that offer some of the fewest member-exclusive benefits in the news cohort, excluding philanthropically supported publications, while also having some of the most expensive 20 Laurie Flynn, “Wall Street Journal Bets Internet Readers Will Pay a Fee,” New York Times, April 20, 1996, at https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/29/business/wall-street-journal-bets-internet-readers-will-pay-a-fee.html. 21 Richard Pérez-Peña, “Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Website,” New York Times, September 18, 2007, at https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/business/media/18times.html. 22 Jeremy W. Peters, “The New York Times Announces Subscription Plan,” New York Times, March 17, 2011, at https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/18/business/media/18times.html. 23 Ariel Stulberg, “In Paywall Age, Free Content Remains King for Newspaper Sites,” Columbia Journalism Review, September 22, 2017, at https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/newspaper-paywalls.php (hereinafter Stulberg, “In Paywall Age,” 2017). 24 Robert Channick, “Tronc Changing Name Back to Tribune Publishing,” Chicago Tribune, October 4, 2018, at https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-tronc-name-change-tribune-publishing-20181004-story.html. 25 Stulberg, “In Paywall Age,” 2017. 26 Gerry Smith, “Google Said to Priorities Stories for Papers’ Paying Readers,” The Boston Globe, March 14, 2018. 27 Jim Albrecht, “Introducing Subscribe with Google,” Google Blog, March 20, 2018, at https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/introducing-subscribe-google/. 28 Li Lu, “Digiday+ Research: News Publisher Subscription Index,” Digiday, December 20, 2022, at https://digiday.com/media/digiday-research-news-publisher-subscription-index/ (hereinafter Lu, “Digiday+ Research,” 2022). Congressional Research Service 5 link to page 19 link to page 19 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age base annual subscription prices, only surpassed by The Wall Street Journal and rivaled by The New York Times.29 Both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times use “data and machine learning” to tailor the number of free articles available individually to nonsubscribers.30 According to Digiday, the New York Times limits access to some content, which it makes exclusively available to subscribers.31 The Wall Street Journal allows nonsubscribers to access any and all content up to a certain number of articles within a set time.32 Online Competition for Advertising The internet transformed the local advertising market for newspapers, unleashing competition from online platforms and websites. The launch of the free online-classified advertising website Craigslist in 199633 coincided with the falloff in newspapers’ revenue from print classified advertising. 34 In addition, some newspaper publishers invested in online-classified services such as Cars.com, Apartments.com, Autotrader.com, and CareerBuilder.com, which siphoned off classified advertising from newspapers.35 As described in “Digital Advertising Formats/Types of Expenditures,” compared with other formats, classified advertising represents a relatively small proportion of online advertising spending. In 2000, print newspapers generated 40% of their total advertising from classified ads. In 2020, print classified advertising generated classified ads. In 2020, print classified advertising generated ~~only~~ 15% of total advertising 15% of total advertising
~~revenue, or $1.4 billion.21~~revenue.36
Likewise, display advertisers, such as retailers and consumer products manufacturers, shifted Likewise, display advertisers, such as retailers and consumer products manufacturers, shifted
their budgets from print newspapers to online platforms and websites as the internet enabled them their budgets from print newspapers to online platforms and websites as the internet enabled them
to target potential customers in new ways.to target potential customers in new ways.2237 Newspapers typically offer the same advertisement Newspapers typically offer the same advertisement (or ad) to to
all print readers. In contrast, online platforms, particularly Google and Facebook, can target ads all print readers. In contrast, online platforms, particularly Google and Facebook, can target ads
precisely to potential consumers based on the platforms’ access to data about individuals.precisely to potential consumers based on the platforms’ access to data about individuals.23
~~According to estimates from research firms Borrell Associates and eMarketer, as of 2019, Google~~
~~and Facebook collectively received 77% of online advertising revenue in local markets.24 In~~
~~particular, these two companies benefited from a self-reinforcing cycle of attracting users and~~
~~advertisers. The more users they attract, the more data they can collect, and the easier it is to~~
~~target the users with advertisements, thereby enabling them to maintain a competitive advantage~~
~~vis-à-vis other online media outlets in generating advertising revenues.~~
~~As Figure 3 illustrates, printed daily newspapers’ share of overall local advertising25 spending~~
~~plummeted, from 41.9% of $92.1 billion in total local advertising spending in 2004 (in nominal~~
~~dollars) to 5% of the $93.0 billion in total local advertising spending in 2020. In contrast, the~~
~~share of local advertising spending captured by online media—which, as shown in~~ ~~Figure 3~~
~~includes advertising revenue from all websites and apps (including newspaper websites and~~
~~apps)—skyrocketed from 3% in 2004 to 63% in 2020. Thus, while newspaper publishers rely on~~
~~online platforms to reach readers and advertisers, the publishers also compete with those~~
~~platforms, either directly or indirectly, for access to their readers’ data and revenues from local~~
~~advertisers seeking to utilize those data.~~

1938 29 Ibid. 30 Shan Wang, “After Years of Testing, The Wall Street Journal Has Built a Paywall That Bends to the Individual Reacer,” Nieman Lab, February 22, 2018, at https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/02/after-years-of-testing-the-wall-street-journal-has-built-a-paywall-that-bends-to-the-individual-reader/; and Rohit Supekar, “How the New York Times Uses Its Machine Learning to Make Its Paywall Smarter,” NYT Open Blog, New York Times Company, August 10, 2022, at https://medium.com/timesopen/how-the-new-york-times-uses-machine-learning-to-make-its-paywall-smarter-e5771d5f46f8. 31 Lu, “Digiday+ Research,” 2022. 32 Ibid. 33 Beth Daley, “Craigslist Turns 25—a Reminder That a More Democratic Version of the Internet Can Still Thrive,” Beth Daley, “Craigslist Turns 25—a Reminder That a More Democratic Version of the Internet Can Still Thrive,”
The Conversation, February 19, 2020, at https://theconversation.com/craigslist-turns-25-a-reminder-that-a-more-, February 19, 2020, at https://theconversation.com/craigslist-turns-25-a-reminder-that-a-more-
democratic-version-of-the-internet-can-still-thrive-129875. Craigslist began as an email listserv in 1995. democratic-version-of-the-internet-can-still-thrive-129875. Craigslist began as an email listserv in 1995.
2034 Craig Shafer, “Don’t Blame Craigslist for the Decline of Newspapers,” Craig Shafer, “Don’t Blame Craigslist for the Decline of Newspapers,” Politico, December 13, 2016, at , December 13, 2016, at
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/craigslist-newspapers-decline-classifieds-214525/. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/craigslist-newspapers-decline-classifieds-214525/.
2135 Ibid. 36 CRS analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Figures not adjusted for inflation. CRS analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Figures not adjusted for inflation.
2237 Display advertisements Display advertisements ~~are “displayed”~~appear alongside editorial content. They often contain graphics or other artwork to alongside editorial content. They often contain graphics or other artwork to
promote products and/or services. promote products and/or services.
2338 “Digital Versus Traditional Marketing: What Today’s C-Suite Needs to Know,” Wharton Online (blog), University “Digital Versus Traditional Marketing: What Today’s C-Suite Needs to Know,” Wharton Online (blog), University
of Pennsylvania, July 17, 2019, at https://online.wharton.upenn.edu/blog/digital-versus-traditional-marketing/. of Pennsylvania, July 17, 2019, at https://online.wharton.upenn.edu/blog/digital-versus-traditional-marketing/.
~~24 Keach Hagey, Lukas I. Alpert, and Yaryna Serkez, “In the News Industry, a Stark Divide Between the Haves and~~
~~Have-Nots,” Wall Street Journal, May 4, 2019, at https://www.wsj.com/graphics/local-newspapers-stark-divide/.~~
~~25 “Local advertising” refers to the way in which advertising is purchased/sold. Local advertising is purchased/sold on a~~
~~per-market basis; national advertising is sold across the entire country. Email dated December 2, 2021, from S&P~~
~~Global Market Intelligence to CRS.~~
~~Congressional Research Service~~

5

~~Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age~~

~~Figure 3. Local Advertising Revenue Shares by Medium~~
~~Figures in $ Billions, Adjust for Inflation in 2020 Dollars~~

Source: CRS analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer
~~Price Index for All Urban Consumers.~~
~~Notes:~~ ~~Here,~~Congressional Research Service 6 link to page 11 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age As of October 2021, Google and Facebook collectively received 52.7% of online advertising revenue nationwide.39 In particular, these two companies benefited from a self-reinforcing cycle of attracting users and advertisers. The more users Google and Facebook attract, the more data they can collect, and the easier it is to provide the users with targeted advertisements, thereby enabling those companies to maintain a competitive advantage vis-à-vis other online media outlets in generating online advertising revenues. As Figure 3 illustrates, printed newspapers’ share of overall advertising spending has plummeted over the past 20 years. The share was 53% of the $142 billion spent in 2000 (adjusted for inflation in 2020); it was 5% of the $93 billion spent in 2020. In contrast, online media’s share increased from 1% in 2000 to 63% in 2020. Thus, while newspaper publishers rely on online platforms to reach readers and advertisers, the publishers also compete with those platforms, either directly or indirectly, for access to their readers’ data and revenues from advertisers. Figure 3. Advertising Revenue Shares, by Medium Figures in $ Billions, Adjusted for Inflation in 2020 Dollars Source: CRS analysis of data from Magna Global via S&P Global Market Intelligence and the BLS Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. Notes: “Newspapers” revenues include those generated by paper-based circulation. “Online” includes advertising revenues generated by advertising over the internet and over “Online” includes advertising revenues generated by advertising over the internet and over
mobile, including the websites and mobile apps of mobile, including the websites and mobile apps of ~~daily~~ newspapers. “Other” includes advertising revenues newspapers. “Other” includes advertising revenues
~~generated by broadcast television stations, regional cable (sports) networks, cable and satellite operators,~~
~~newspapers/shoppers distributed weekly, yellow pages, and outdoor/~~generated by broadcast and radio television stations and networks, cable and satellite operators and networks, magazines, movie theaters and other out-of-out-of-home media, and outdoor media (e.g., bil boards). The few daily newspapers with national and international readership—such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the Washington Post—have experienced different advertising trends than those with primarily local or regional readership. Journalism professor Penelope Muse Abernathy wrote in a June 2020 report that national newspapers “have a journalistic mandate and a business model, which rely on scale and reach that are very different from that of either the state and metro papers or smaller community papers.”40 This scale and 39 Zak Stambor, “Amazon Has a Larger Advertising Business than YouTube,” Insider Intelligence eMarketer, February 4, 2022, at https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/amazon-has-larger-advertising-business-than-youtube. 40 Penelope Abernathy, News Deserts and Ghost Newspapers: Will Local News Survive?, Center for Innovation and Congressional Research Service 7 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age reach enable the national papers to attract national advertisers in addition to local advertisers, thereby generating more advertising revenue than their local counterparts. National advertisers, in order to reach readers nationwide, prefer to negotiate a “seamless and turnkey” arrangement rather than engage in multiple negotiations with various local newspaper publishers.41 In addition, as described below, large publishers are less reliant on advertising technology intermediaries, such as Google, and are therefore able to retain a greater share of online advertising revenues than small publishers. For example, the New York Times generated approximately 62% of its advertising revenue from online advertising in 2021.42 In contrast, that same year, two leading publishers of local daily newspapers—Lee Enterprises Inc. and DallasNews Corp.—generated 37.6%43 and 35.2%,44 respectively, of their total advertising revenue from online advertising. Effects of Revenue Declines Declining revenue prompted some news publishers to close or reduce publication frequency, resulting in staff layoffs. According to one count, between 2004 and 2022, 242 daily newspapers in the United States ceased publication.45 As of July 2022, 42 of the 100 largest newspapers delivered print editions six or fewer times per week, including 11 that publish print editions one or two times per week.46 The widespread economic and social impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 led to a further decline in the number of daily newspapers, as advertisers cut back spending.47 In July 2020, Wyoming became the first state without a daily printed newspaper on Monday mornings.48 New owners of newspaper publishers—~~home advertising.~~
~~Effects of Revenue Declines~~
~~The decline in industry revenue (even without adjusting for inflation) has contributed to the~~
~~closure of hundreds of newspapers and reductions in publication frequencies for others, and/or~~
~~staff layoffs. According to one count, between 2004 and 2020, 71 daily newspapers in the United~~
~~States ceased publication, including many in economically troubled communities where~~
~~advertisers were struggling and readers could no longer afford subscriptions.26 During that same~~
~~period, more than 100 daily newspapers reduced their publication frequency to less than seven~~
~~days per week.27 The widespread economic and social impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019~~
~~(COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 led to a further decline in the number of daily newspapers, as~~
~~advertisers cut back spending.28 In July 2020, Wyoming became the first state without a daily~~
~~printed newspaper on Monday mornings.29~~

~~26 Abernathy June 2020 Report, p. 15.~~
~~27 Christine Schmidt, “How Publishers Are Cutting Print Days—and Not Losing Too Many Subscribers,” Nieman Lab,~~
~~August 28, 2019, at https://www.niemanlab.org/2019/08/how-publishers-are-cutting-print-days-and-not-losing-too-~~
~~many-subscribers/.~~
~~28 Erika Bolstad, “COVID-19 Is Crushing Newspapers, Worsening Hunger for Accurate Information,” Pew Charitable~~
~~Trusts, September 8, 2020, at https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/09/08/covid-19-~~
~~is-crushing-newspapers-worsening-hunger-for-accurate-information.~~
~~29 Joshua Benton, “Want to Read a Local Newspaper on a Monday Morning in Wyoming? The Last One Printing Is~~
~~About to Stop,” Nieman Lab, July 15, 2020, at https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/07/want-to-read-a-local-newspaper-~~
~~on-a-monday-morning-in-wyoming-the-last-one-still-printing-is-about-to-stop.~~
~~Congressional Research Service~~

6

~~link to page 12~~ ~~Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age~~

~~Meanwhile, ownership of the surviving newspapers has become more concentrated. From 2004 to~~
~~2020, the percentage of daily newspapers owned by the 25 largest newspaper publishers grew~~
~~from less than a third of the 1,472 dailies (including newspapers that have since decreased their~~
~~publication frequency to weekly as well as those that since ceased publication) to more than to~~
~~70% of the 1,260 dailies.30 The new owners,~~ in many cases private equity firms, hedge funds, or in many cases private equity firms, hedge funds, or
other investment groupsother investment groups, —took on debt to acquire the newspapers, took on debt to acquire the newspapers, ~~and promised~~promising investors that they investors that they
would earn a return on their investments by cutting costs.would earn a return on their investments by cutting costs.3149 In some instances, such cost cutting In some instances, such cost cutting
~~has~~ involved selling real estate and equipment and laying off employees.involved selling real estate and equipment and laying off employees.32
~~From 2004 to 2020, the total number of employees at newspapers declined from about 397,500 to~~
~~120,000 (Figure 4). These figures include people working at newspaper websites. Meanwhile, the~~
~~total number of employees working for “Internet publishing and broadcasting and search portals,”~~
~~the best proxy for online-only publishers, rose from about 66,100 to 290,200.33 Thus, while~~
~~online-only publishers have siphoned off advertising revenue from newspapers, they employ far~~
~~fewer journalists.~~
~~The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that of the 46,700 news analysts, reporters, and~~
~~journalists employed nationwide in 2020, about 13,800 (29.6%) were employed by newspaper~~
~~publishers, roughly the same number employed by television broadcasters. About 6,100 (or~~
~~13.2%) were self-employed, and about 4,900 (or 10.6%) were employed by other online-only~~
~~publishers.34 Thus, despite their declining revenues, newspaper publishers continue to employ~~
~~more people within this job category than their online counterparts.~~

~~30 Abernathy June 2020 Report, pp. 34-35.~~
3150 Sustainability in Local Media, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, June 2020, p. 13, at https://www.usnewsdeserts.com/reports/news-deserts-and-ghost-newspapers-will-local-news-survive/. 41 Sara Fischer, “Gannett, McClatchy Team Up to Sell Ads,” Axios, February 15, 2021, at https://www.axios.com/gannett-mcclatchy-advertising-sales-local-f87fa8db-cc60-4bf6-9ea4-a8b033d6aa52.html. 42 New York Times Company, SEC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 26, 2021, p. 3 (hereinafter NYT 2021 SEC Form 10-K). 43 Lee Enterprises Inc., SEC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 26, 2021, p. 16. 44 DallasNews Corporation, SEC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, p. 13. 45 Penny Abernathy, The State of Local News, Medill Center, Northwestern University, June 29, 2022, at https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/research/state-of-local-news/report/#local-news. The loss includes more than 100 dailies that shifted to weekly publications. 46 Greg Burns, The Future of the Daily Newspaper, Medill Center, Northwestern University, July 27, 2022, at https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/posts/2022/07/27/frequency-state-of-local-news/. 47 Erika Bolstad, “COVID-19 Is Crushing Newspapers, Worsening Hunger for Accurate Information,” Pew Charitable Trusts, September 8, 2020, at https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/09/08/covid-19-is-crushing-newspapers-worsening-hunger-for-accurate-information. 48 Joshua Benton, “Want to Read a Local Newspaper on a Monday Morning in Wyoming? The Last One Printing Is About to Stop,” Nieman Lab, July 15, 2020, at https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/07/want-to-read-a-local-newspaper-on-a-monday-morning-in-wyoming-the-last-one-still-printing-is-about-to-stop. 49 Anna Nicolau and James Fontanella-Khan, “The Fight for the Future of America’s Local Newspapers,” Anna Nicolau and James Fontanella-Khan, “The Fight for the Future of America’s Local Newspapers,” Financial
Times, January 21, 2021, at https://www.ft.com/content/5c22075c-f1af-431d-bf39-becf9c54758b. , January 21, 2021, at https://www.ft.com/content/5c22075c-f1af-431d-bf39-becf9c54758b.
3250 McKay Coppins, “A Secretive Hedge Fund Is Gutting Newsrooms,” McKay Coppins, “A Secretive Hedge Fund Is Gutting Newsrooms,” The Atlantic, October 14, 2021, at , October 14, 2021, at
~~https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/11/alden-global-capital-killing-americas-newspapers/620171/.~~
~~33 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics, employment for NAICS code 51913, at~~
~~https://www.bls.gov/ces/data/.~~
~~34 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Data Tools; Employment Projections; National Employment Matrix; 27-3023 News~~
~~Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists; Employment by Industry, Occupation, and Percent Distribution, 2020 and~~
~~Projected 2030,” at https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=27-3023&ioType=o.~~
~~Congressional Research Service~~

7

Congressional Research Service 8 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age Despite their declining revenues, newspaper publishers continue to employ more news analysts, reporters, and journalists than their online counterparts do. In 2022, newspaper publishers employed about 13,500 news analysts, reporters, and journalists, or about 28.7% of the 47,100 employed across industries.51 Among different types of media, this amount is second only to television broadcasters, which employ about 14,500 (30.8%). Online-only publishers employed about 3,800 (8.0%).52 Research indicates that local newspaper closures and

~~Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age~~

~~Figure 4. Newspaper and Online-Only Publishing Employment Trends~~
~~Average Monthly Employment~~

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; “Current Employment Statistics National Databases, Multiscreen,
~~Information (NACIS Code 50); All Employees, Thousands; Newspaper Publishers (NAICS Code 51111) and~~
~~Internet Publishing and Broadcasting and Web Search Portals (NAICS Code 51913); from years 2004–2021,~~
~~including monthly averages,” at https://www.bls.gov/ces/data/.~~
Notes: Figures not seasonally adjusted. 2021 data are employment averages of figures from January–November.
~~Researchers have found evidence that local newspaper closures and/or~~ employee layoffs can employee layoffs can
increase the financing costs of both local governments and private corporations. A study increase the financing costs of both local governments and private corporations. A study
published in 2020 found that because “local newspapers hold their governments accountable, published in 2020 found that because “local newspapers hold their governments accountable,
keeping municipal borrowing costs low and ultimately saving local taxpayers money,” closures keeping municipal borrowing costs low and ultimately saving local taxpayers money,” closures
can “have a significantly adverse impact on municipal borrowing costs in the long run.”can “have a significantly adverse impact on municipal borrowing costs in the long run.”35
53 Likewise, a study published in 2021 found that newspapers play an important role in enabling Likewise, a study published in 2021 found that newspapers play an important role in enabling
shareholders to monitor shareholders to monitor ~~monitoring~~ publicly publicly traded firms.54 Newspaper Publishers’ Relationship with Online Platforms Some online platforms allow consumers to access news articles, or portions of news articles, without a direct subscription to the newspaper. This section discusses how two types of online platforms—news aggregators and social media platforms—can both benefit and harm local newspapers.55 News Aggregators News aggregators (e.g., Google News, Apple News, and SmartNews) curate content from various news publishers, including local and digital-native newspapers; some aggregators also publish original content.56 Some aggregators link only to headlines of the news articles, while others include multiple sentences or photographs.57 Aggregators rely on online advertising and https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/11/alden-global-capital-killing-americas-newspapers/620171/. 51 BLS, “Data Tools; Employment Projections; National Employment Matrix; 27-3023 News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists; Employment by Industry, Occupation, and Percent Distribution, 2021 and Projected 2031,” at https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=27-3023&ioType=o. 52 BLS’s industry subsector category of “Other Information Services” includes “group establishments ... operating Web sites Web sites that use search engines to allow for searching information on the Internet, or publishing and/or broadcasting content exclusively on the Internet.” BLS, “Industries at a Glance; Other Information Services: NAICS 519,” at https://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag519.htm. 53~~traded firms.36~~

35 Pengjie Gao, Chang Lee, and Dermot Murphy, “Financing Dies in Darkness? The Impact of Newspaper Closures on Pengjie Gao, Chang Lee, and Dermot Murphy, “Financing Dies in Darkness? The Impact of Newspaper Closures on
Public Finance,” Public Finance,” Journal of Financial Economics, vol. 135, no. 2 (2020), p. 445. , vol. 135, no. 2 (2020), p. 445.
~~36 Min Kim, Derrald Stice, Han Stice, and Roger M. White~~54 Min Kim et al., “Stop the Presses! Or Wait, We Might Need Them: Firm , “Stop the Presses! Or Wait, We Might Need Them: Firm
Responses to Local Newspaper Closures and Layoffs,” Responses to Local Newspaper Closures and Layoffs,” Journal of Corporate Finance, , vvol. 69 (2021), p. 102035, at . 69 (2021), p. 102035, at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119921001577?via%3Dihub. 55 Although this report focuses on news aggregators and social media platforms, some of these issues may be applicable to other online platforms. 56 For example, Yahoo News publishes original content; see https://news.yahoo.com/originals/. 57 Shira Perlmutter, Copyright Protections for Press Publishers, U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington, DC, June 2022, p. 39, at https://www.copyright.gov/policy/publishersprotections/202206-Publishers-Protections-Study.pdf. Congressional Research Service 9 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age subscriptions for their revenue.58~~article/pii/S0929119921001577?via%3Dihub.~~
~~Congressional Research Service~~

8

~~Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age~~

~~Newspaper Publishers’ Relationship with~~
~~Online Platforms~~
~~Some online platforms allow consumers to access news articles, or portions of news articles,~~
~~without a direct subscription to the newspaper. This section discusses how two types of online~~
~~platforms—news aggregators and social media platforms—can both benefit and harm local~~
~~newspapers.37~~
~~News Aggregators~~
~~News aggregators38 curate content from various news publishers, including local and digital-~~
~~native newspapers; some aggregators also publish original content.39 Aggregators rely on online~~
~~advertising and subscriptions for their revenue.40~~ They bundle articles and display them in a They bundle articles and display them in a
particular order, often using proprietary algorithms that weigh factors such as relevance, particular order, often using proprietary algorithms that weigh factors such as relevance,
freshness, and authoritativeness of the content.freshness, and authoritativeness of the content.4159 Details about each aggregator’s ranking process, Details about each aggregator’s ranking process,
such as the weight given to each factor used to prioritize certain news articles, are not publicly such as the weight given to each factor used to prioritize certain news articles, are not publicly
~~available.~~
disclosed by the companies. Some newspapers have attracted readers by working with aggregators, particularly popular Some newspapers have attracted readers by working with aggregators, particularly popular
ones.ones.4260 Limiting aggregators’ access to a newspaper’s content can reduce overall news Limiting aggregators’ access to a newspaper’s content can reduce overall news
consumption, including on the newspaper publisher’s own consumption, including on the newspaper publisher’s own ~~online platforms.43~~websites and apps.61 However, However,
aggregators can aggregators can ~~also~~ make it difficult for newspaper publishers to create direct relationships with make it difficult for newspaper publishers to create direct relationships with
their readers, potentially resulting in newspapers having fewer subscribers and limited data about their readers, potentially resulting in newspapers having fewer subscribers and limited data about
their their readers.62 The National Media Association has asserted that widespread aggregation may significantly impede the ability of press publishers to obtain payments from potential subscribers.63 One study found that when an aggregator displayed more information about a news article, such as longer snippets or accompanying images, readers were less likely to click through to the original article on the publisher’s platform.64 However, the same study found that when choosing among several related articles, readers tended to pick the one with more information displayed. The~~readers.44 In addition, the~~ visibility of each publisher’s content visibility of each publisher’s content ~~depends~~can depend on the aggregator. on the aggregator.
Newspaper editors may have little or no control over the visibility of articles on an aggregator’s Newspaper editors may have little or no control over the visibility of articles on an aggregator’s

~~37 Although this report focuses on news aggregators and social media platforms, some of these issues may be applicable~~
~~to other online platforms as well.~~
~~38 Examples include Google News, Apple News, SmartNews, and Drudge Report.~~
~~39 For example, Yahoo News publishes original content; see https://news.yahoo.com/originals/.~~
40website, including where the aggregator lists content on its main page or in response to a user’s search. In an effort to obtain a more prominent position on aggregators’ platforms, some newspapers might focus on producing content that they expect will be ranked higher by the aggregators’ algorithms.65 58 For example, Google News and SmartNews obtain their revenue from online advertising, while Apple News+ is For example, Google News and SmartNews obtain their revenue from online advertising, while Apple News+ is
subscription-based.subscription-based.
41 59 For example, Apple presents content selected by editors under “Top Stories” and content selected by its algorithms For example, Apple presents content selected by editors under “Top Stories” and content selected by its algorithms
under “Trending Stories” on its Apple News feed, while Google uses only algorithms to rank content in its Google under “Trending Stories” on its Apple News feed, while Google uses only algorithms to rank content in its Google
News feedNews feed~~; see~~. See Apple, “See News Stories Chosen Just for You on iPhone,” Apple iPhone User Guide, accessed on Apple, “See News Stories Chosen Just for You on iPhone,” Apple iPhone User Guide, accessed on
September 21, 2021, at https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/see-news-stories-chosen-just-for-you-iph5b557ed3d/September 21, 2021, at https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/see-news-stories-chosen-just-for-you-iph5b557ed3d/
ios; ios; and Google, “Surfacing Useful and Relevant Content,” Google News Initiative, accessed on September 21, 2021, at Google, “Surfacing Useful and Relevant Content,” Google News Initiative, accessed on September 21, 2021, at
https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/hownewsworks/approach/surfacing-useful-and-relevant-content/. https://newsinitiative.withgoogle.com/hownewsworks/approach/surfacing-useful-and-relevant-content/.
4260 For example, Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corporation, the publisher of the For example, Robert Thomson, CEO of News Corporation, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, stated that the , stated that the
“Apple News partnership allows us to ... bring in a significantly new audience that we would hope to graduate to a paid “Apple News partnership allows us to ... bring in a significantly new audience that we would hope to graduate to a paid
WSJ subscription over time.” See “Q4 2020 News Corp. Earnings Call—Final,” CQ-Roll Call, Inc subscription over time.” See “Q4 2020 News Corp. Earnings Call—Final,” CQ-Roll Call, Inc., August 6, 2020. , August 6, 2020.
~~43 Susan Athey, Mark Mobius, and Jeno Pal, “The Impact of Aggregators on Internet News Consumption,” National~~
~~Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper No. 28746, April 2021, at http://www.nber.org/papers/w28746;~~61 Lesley Lesley
Chiou and Catherine Tucker, “Content Aggregation by Platforms: The Case of the News Media,” Chiou and Catherine Tucker, “Content Aggregation by Platforms: The Case of the News Media,” Journal of Economics
and Management Strategy, vol. 26, issue 4 (2017), pp. 782-805, at https://doi.org/10.1111/jems.12207; , vol. 26, issue 4 (2017), pp. 782-805, at https://doi.org/10.1111/jems.12207; and Joan Calzada Joan Calzada
and Ricard Gil, “What Do News Aggregators Do? Evidence from Google News in Spain and Germany,” and Ricard Gil, “What Do News Aggregators Do? Evidence from Google News in Spain and Germany,” Marketing
Science, vol. 39, issue 1 (2020), pp. 134-167, at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2019.1150. , vol. 39, issue 1 (2020), pp. 134-167, at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2019.1150.
4462 For example, this was the reason the For example, this was the reason the New York Times stopped partnering with Apple News stopped partnering with Apple News~~; see~~. See Kellen Browning and Kellen Browning and
Jack Nicas, “The New York Times Pulls Out of Apple News,” Jack Nicas, “The New York Times Pulls Out of Apple News,” New York Times, June 29, 2020, at , June 29, 2020, at
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/technology/new-york-times-apple-news-app.html. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/29/technology/new-york-times-apple-news-app.html.
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~~website,45 and may be tempted to focus on content that they expect to be ranked higher by~~
~~aggregators’ algorithms in an attempt to obtain a more prominent position on aggregators’~~
~~platforms.46~~
~~Some aggregators have created sections dedicated to local news.47~~63 News Media Alliance Initial Written Comments regarding Response Request for Comments to Library of Congress, Copyright Office, “Publishers’ Protections Study: Notice and Request for Public Comment, Notice of Inquiry,” 86 Federal Register 57621, October 2021, pp. 16-17, at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/COLC-2021-0006/comments (hereinafter News Media Alliance Comments for 2022 Copyright Office Report). 64 Chrysanthos Dellarocas et al., “Attention Allocation in Information-Rich Environments: The Case of News Aggregators,” Management Science, vol. 62, no. 9 (September 2016), pp. 2457-2764, at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2237. 65 Stigler Committee on Digital Platforms, “Final Report: News Industry Subcommittee Report,” Chicago Booth Stigler Center, 2019, at https://research.chicagobooth.edu/stigler/media/news/committee-on-digital-platforms-final-report, pp. 139-205; and Bertin Martens et al., The Digital Transformation of News Media and the Rise of Disinformation and Fake News, European Commission, Joint Research Centre Technical Report Working Paper 2018-02, April 2018, at Congressional Research Service 10 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age Some aggregators have created sections dedicated to local news.66 One study found that after One study found that after
Google News was redesigned to place links to geo-targeted local news content on its Home Page, Google News was redesigned to place links to geo-targeted local news content on its Home Page,
local news consumption among heavy Google News users rose by 25%, with no evidence that local news consumption among heavy Google News users rose by 25%, with no evidence that
consumers were visiting Google News rather than directly visiting the publishers’ platforms.consumers were visiting Google News rather than directly visiting the publishers’ platforms.48
~~However, some aggregators’ algorithms may give lower rankings to~~67 However, another study found that Google’s algorithms might rank content from local content from local
newspapers newspapers ~~than to~~lower than content from national newspapers, content from national newspapers,49 displaying local newspapers’ content less displaying local newspapers’ content less
prominently. prominently.
68 Specific terms of each publisher’s agreement with an aggregator typically are not publicly Specific terms of each publisher’s agreement with an aggregator typically are not publicly
available. Although some aggregators provide information on the amount of revenue they provide available. Although some aggregators provide information on the amount of revenue they provide
publishers,publishers,5069 oftentimes details about an agreement between a specific publisher and aggregator oftentimes details about an agreement between a specific publisher and aggregator
are available only from news articles by individuals familiar with the negotiations.are available only from news articles by individuals familiar with the negotiations.5170 Popular Popular
newspapers with a large customer base may be able to negotiate more favorable terms with newspapers with a large customer base may be able to negotiate more favorable terms with
aggregators and receive a larger share of revenue than smaller newspapers. aggregators and receive a larger share of revenue than smaller newspapers.
Some news aggregators may be able to leverage greater bargaining power over newspaper Some news aggregators may be able to leverage greater bargaining power over newspaper
publishers publishers or obtain a greater share of the advertising revenue through their parent company’s other products and services. For example, Microsoft through their parent company’s other products and services. For example, Microsoft
~~integrates its news aggregator in its browsers,52 and Apple preinstalls Apple News on its mobile~~

~~45 For example, newspaper editors can increase the visibility of an article in a print publication by placing it on the front~~
~~page.~~
~~46 Stigler Committee on Digital Platforms, “Final Report: News Industry Subcommittee Report,” Chicago Booth Stigler~~
~~Center, 2019, at https://research.chicagobooth.edu/stigler/media/news/committee-on-digital-platforms-final-report, pp.~~
~~139-205; Bertin Martens et al., “The Digital Transformation of News Media and the Rise of Disinformation and Fake~~
~~News,” European Commission, Joint Research Centre Technical Report Working Paper 2018-02, April 2018, at~~
~~https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/default/files/jrc111529.pdf; Susan Athey, Mark Mobius, and Jeno Pal, “The Impact of~~
~~Aggregators on Internet News Consumption,” NBER Working Paper No. 28746, April 2021, at http://www.nber.org/~~
~~papers/w28746.~~
~~47 For example, Google News has a section dedicated to local news,~~integrates its news aggregator in its web browsers;71 Microsoft and Google embed a preview of the news aggregator results in response to some news-related searches on their respective search engines;72 and Apple preinstalls Apple News on its hardware products.73 Integrating news aggregators into other platforms or devices may be convenient for some publishers and consumers, but this integration may make it difficult https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/default/files/jrc111529.pdf. 66 For example, Google News has a section dedicated to local news where users can prioritize content from specific where users can prioritize content from specific
cities and zip codes, and SmartNews allows users to search for news in cities and zip codes, and SmartNews allows users to search for news in ~~select~~selected cities. cities.
4867 Lisa George and Christiaan Hogendorn, “Local News Online: Aggregators, Geo-Targeting, and the Market for Local Lisa George and Christiaan Hogendorn, “Local News Online: Aggregators, Geo-Targeting, and the Market for Local
News,” News,” Journal of Industrial Economics, vol. 68, issue 4 (December 2020), pp. 780-818. , vol. 68, issue 4 (December 2020), pp. 780-818.
4968 Sean Fischer, Kokil Jaidka, and Yphtach Lelkes, “Auditing Local News Presence on Google News,” Sean Fischer, Kokil Jaidka, and Yphtach Lelkes, “Auditing Local News Presence on Google News,” Nature Human
Behavior, vol. 4 (December 2020), pp. 1236-1244, at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-00954-0. , vol. 4 (December 2020), pp. 1236-1244, at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-00954-0.
5069 For example, according to Apple News, publishers keep all of the advertising revenue generated from ads sold by the For example, according to Apple News, publishers keep all of the advertising revenue generated from ads sold by the
publisher and 70% of the revenue from ads sold by Apple. In October 2020, Google stated that it would spend $1 publisher and 70% of the revenue from ads sold by Apple. In October 2020, Google stated that it would spend $1
billion investing in partnerships with newspaper publishers in a new platform, Google News Showcase. Google stated billion investing in partnerships with newspaper publishers in a new platform, Google News Showcase. Google stated
that it had signed partnerships with nearly 200 leading publications across Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the that it had signed partnerships with nearly 200 leading publications across Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, the
United Kingdom, and AustraliaUnited Kingdom, and Australia~~. However, it is unclear whether or when this would expand to U.S. publishers~~; it currently is not available in the United States. Apple, . Apple,
“Publishing on Apple News,” Apple Developer, accessed on November 17, 2021, at https://developer.apple.com/news-“Publishing on Apple News,” Apple Developer, accessed on November 17, 2021, at https://developer.apple.com/news-
publisher/; publisher/; and Sundar Pichai, “Our $1 Billion Investment in Partnerships with News Publishers,” Google Blog, October 1, Sundar Pichai, “Our $1 Billion Investment in Partnerships with News Publishers,” Google Blog, October 1,
2020, at https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/google-news-showcase/. 2020, at https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/google-news-showcase/.
5170 For example, Apple was reportedly seeking to take 50% of the revenue generated through Apple News+, the For example, Apple was reportedly seeking to take 50% of the revenue generated through Apple News+, the
subscription-based version of Apple News that provides additional content, and a Google subscription-based version of Apple News that provides additional content, and a Google ~~spokesman~~spokesperson stated that stated that
publishers received over 70% of the ad revenue when they publishers received over 70% of the ad revenue when they ~~use~~used Google tools to monetize their content. Lukas Alpert, Google tools to monetize their content. Lukas Alpert,
“Facebook Chief Mark Zuckerberg Urges Tech Rivals to Pay for News,” “Facebook Chief Mark Zuckerberg Urges Tech Rivals to Pay for News,” Wall Street Journal, October 25, 2019, at , October 25, 2019, at
https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-launches-news-service-for-select-users-11571997601; https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-launches-news-service-for-select-users-11571997601; and Apple, “Apple News+,” Apple, “Apple News+,”
accessed on January 14, 2022, at https://www.apple.com/apple-news/. accessed on January 14, 2022, at https://www.apple.com/apple-news/.
5271 In 2021, Microsoft Microsoft ~~recently~~ launched a news aggregator, Microsoft Start, to replace Microsoft News. launched a news aggregator, Microsoft Start, to replace Microsoft News. ~~It also started replacing~~
~~its web browser Internet Explorer with Microsoft Edge. The news aggregators were and will continue to be integrated~~
~~with the web browsers. Sarah Perez, “Microsoft Launches A Personalized News Service, Microsoft Start,”~~
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~~devices and tablets.53 Other firms operate news aggregators alongside online platforms that offer~~
~~services that some newspaper publishers may rely on, such as search engines and advertising~~
~~tools. News aggregators integrated with other platforms or devices may be convenient for some~~
~~publishers and consumers, but they could also make it difficult for other news aggregators that do~~
~~not operate similar access points to compete, increasing the market power of these integrated~~
~~aggregators.~~
~~Although the Copyright Act generally prohibits aggregators and other online platforms from~~
~~distributing full articles without the express consent of the copyright owner (usually the~~
~~publisher),54 the extent of these legal protections is not always clear.55 For example, Google News~~
~~provides snippets of news articles on its Home Page and in search results.56 While Google~~
~~considers this “fair use” of publishers’ content,57 newspapers have claimed that the Copyright Act~~
~~does not provide a clear-cut standard to determine what constitutes “fair use.”58 One study found~~
~~that when an aggregator displayed more information about a news article, such as longer snippets~~
~~or accompanying images, readers were less likely to click through to the original article on the~~
~~publisher’s platform.59 However, the same study also found that when there were several related~~
~~articles, more information about an article increased the probability that readers would choose it~~
~~over the other articles.~~
~~In May 2021, Members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary sent a letter to the Register of~~
~~Copyrights requesting a study of protections for publishers under copyright law to be completed~~
~~no later than May 3, 2022. The study would “assist [them] as they consider what legislative~~
~~reforms, if any, should be taken in this area of copyright law.”60 In October 2021, the U.S.~~
~~Copyright Office announced that that it would conduct “a public study to evaluate the~~
~~effectiveness of current copyright protections for publishers in the United States, with a focus on~~

TechCrunch, September 7, 2021, at https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/07/microsoft-launches-a-personalized-news-
~~service-microsoft-start/; Sean Lyndersay, “The Future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is in Microsoft~~
~~Edge,”Windows Blog, May 19, 2021, at https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2021/05/19/the-future-of-~~
~~internet-explorer-on-windows-10-is-in-microsoft-edge/.~~
~~53 Apple, “iPad & iPhone,” App Store Preview, accessed on October 19, 2021, at https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/~~
~~apple/id284417353?mt=12#see-all/i-phonei-pad-apps.~~
~~54 17 U.S.C. §106(3).~~
~~55 In addition to copyright laws, news aggregators that do not publish original content may also receive federal~~
~~immunity from liability for information provided by a third party (e.g., the news publisher) under Section 230 of the~~
~~Communications Act of 1934. For more information, see CRS Report R46751, Section 230: An Overview, by Valerie~~
~~C. Brannon and Eric N. Holmes.~~
~~56 Google, “Best Practices for Your Article Pages,” Google Publisher Center Help, at https://support.google.com/news/~~
~~publisher-center/answer/9607104?hl=en.~~
~~57 Richard Gingras, “Setting the Record Straight on News,” Google News Initiative Blog, June 26, 2020, at~~
~~https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/setting-record-straight-news/.~~
~~58 Johannes Munter, “Fairer Fair Use,” News Media Alliance, February 27, 2021 at~~
~~https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/fairer-fair-use/.~~
~~59 Chrysanthos Dellarocas et al., “Attention Allocation in Information-Rich Environments: The Case of News~~
~~Aggregators,” Management Science, vol. 62, no. 9 (September 2016), pp. 2457-2764, at https://doi.org/10.1287/~~
~~mnsc.2015.2237.~~
~~60 Letter from Senators Thom Tillis, Patrick Leahy, John Cornyn, Mazie Hirono, Amy Klobuchar, and Christopher~~
~~Coons to Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights, U.S. Copyright Office, May 3, 2021, at https://www.copyright.gov/~~
~~policy/publishersprotections/letter-to-the-copyright-office.pdf.~~
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~~press publishers.”61 Governments in other countries have also introduced legislation to address~~
~~this issue.62~~
~~Social Media Platforms~~
~~Social media platforms distribute newspapers’ content in a variety of ways.63 Newspapers can~~
~~create their own social media accounts, individual reporters can post information, and other users~~
~~can also post and share links to newspaper articles. In these cases, content from newspapers is~~
~~intermixed with content from other sources. Some social media platforms have created sections of~~
~~their platforms that provide news articles only from selected newspapers, including local ones.64~~
~~As with news aggregators, social media platforms can increase the visibility of some newspaper~~
~~articles while diminishing it for others. These platforms have an incentive to amplify publishers’~~
~~content that they expect to increase user engagement to increase their revenue from online~~
~~advertising.65 Some social media platforms “recommend” content, which can include newspaper~~
~~content that increases user engagement, even if nobody in the user’s network directly shares the~~
~~article. One study found that social media platforms can increase online news consumption,66~~
~~potentially reducing the amount of time readers spend on news publishers’ platforms.~~
~~Nevertheless, it is unclear whether newspaper publishers would benefit if social media platforms~~
~~did not include news content.67 Some social media platforms have developed technologies that~~

~~61 U.S. Copyright Office, “Study on Ancillary Copyright Protections for Publishers,” at https://www.copyright.gov/~~
~~policy/publishersprotections/; U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress, “Publishers’ Protections Study: Notice and~~
~~Request for Public Comment,” 86 Federal Register 59721, October 12, 2021.~~
~~62 For example, Australia’s parliament passed legislation establishing a code of conduct for negotiations between news~~
~~publishers and online platforms. Facebook and Google initially stated the bill would be unworkable, but subsequently~~
~~reached agreements with publishers. See Parliament of Australia, Treasury Law Amendment (News Media and Digital~~
~~Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2021, February 25, 2021, at https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/~~
~~display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbillhome%2Fr6652%22; William Easton, “Changes to Sharing~~
~~and Viewing News on Facebook in Australia,” Facebook News, February 17, 2021, at https://about.fb.com/news/2021/~~
~~02/changes-to-sharing-and-viewing-news-on-facebook-in-australia/; Mel Silva, “Supporting Australian Journalism: A~~
~~Constructive Path Forward,” Google Blog, at https://about.google/google-in-australia/an-open-letter/.~~
~~Similarly, the French competition authority required Google to negotiate with publishers about using their content after~~
~~the government implemented components of the European Union Digital Single Market Directive, which created~~
~~obligations for online content-sharing service providers, such as requiring providers to make “best efforts” to obtain~~
~~licenses for content that appears on their sites. Google reportedly reached an agreement with the publishers in January~~
~~2021. See European Union, “Directive 2019/790 of the European Parliament and of the Council,” Official Journal of~~
~~the European Union, April 17, 2019, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/~~
~~?uri=CELEX:32019L0790&from=EN; Natasha Lomas, “Google Inks Agreement in France on Paying Publishers for~~
~~News Reuse,” TechCrunch, January 21, 2021, at https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/21/google-inks-agreement-in-france-~~
~~on-paying-publishers-for-news-reuse/.~~
~~63 This section focuses on news publishers’ relationship with social media. News publishers can be affected by other~~
~~aspects of social media, such as users posting information about an incident (e.g., car accident, shooting), particularly if~~
~~it spreads quickly or goes “viral.” These potential effects are beyond the scope of this report.~~
~~64 For example, Facebook launched a section exclusively for news—Facebook News—in June 2020; see Sarah Perez,~~
~~“Facebook Launches to All U.S. with Addition of Local News and Video,” TechCrunch, June 9, 2020, at~~
~~https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/09/facebook-news-launches-to-all-in-u-s-with-addition-of-local-news-and-video/;~~
~~Facebook, “How Facebook News Works,” Facebook News, at https://www.facebook.com/news/howitworks.~~
~~65 Online advertising is the primary source of revenue for most social media platforms. For example, in 2020, it made~~
~~up 98% of Facebook’s total revenue and 86% of Twitter’s. See Facebook Inc. SEC Form 10-K for the year ending~~
~~December 31, 2020; Twitter Inc. SEC Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2020.~~
~~66 Sinan Aral and Michael Zhao, “Social Media Sharing and Online News Consumption,” SSRN, posted February 14,~~
~~2019, at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3328864.~~
~~67 Some studies have found that when users are unable to access news content through social media, more individuals~~
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12

~~link to page 8~~ ~~Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age~~

~~make it possible for publishers to obtain more detailed information about their readers and target~~
~~potential readers;68 some newspapers, particularly smaller ones, may not have direct access to~~
~~these technologies.~~
~~The complexities of social media platforms’ relationship with newspapers mirror those of news~~
~~aggregators. Detailed information about social media platforms’ agreements with newspaper~~
~~publishers typically are not publicly available, and the applicability of existing regulations,~~
~~particularly related to copyright laws, can be unclear. For example, when Meta (formerly~~
~~Facebook Inc.)69 launched a news section on its platform Facebook, it reportedly paid licensing~~
~~fees to only some of the publishers whose articles it republished, with the amount depending on~~
~~the size of the publisher.70 Meta subsequently stated that it would pay $5 million to support local~~
~~journalists to “regularly publish written, public-interest journalism focused on a local~~
~~community,” with precedence given to areas that “are not currently served by an existing~~
~~journalism entity.”71~~
~~Newspaper Websites: Flow of Advertising Revenue~~
~~Online advertising has become a growing source of revenue for newspaper publishers, as~~
~~discussed earlier (see Figure 2). Nevertheless, for several reasons, the revenue many newspaper~~
~~publishers receive from online advertising is insufficient to compensate for the decline in print~~
~~advertising. Online advertising has not enabled newspaper publishers to regain print advertising~~
~~devoted to recruitment, real estate, and vehicle sales. More generally, a proliferation of options~~
~~has constrained the prices media outlets can charge for online advertising, particularly for~~
~~advertisements appearing on mobile devices.72~~
~~In order to attract readers to their websites and sell online advertising, newspaper publishers must~~
~~rely on some of the very companies with which they compete for advertising revenue.~~
~~Newspapers rely on Google’s search engine and Google News to refer readers to their news sites.~~
~~In addition, both advertisers and newspaper publishers rely on Google to supply the technology~~
~~necessary to place online advertising.~~
~~This section describes how the structure of the online advertising industry—particularly the~~
~~structure of the automated, or “programmatic,” advertising industry—affects the flow of~~

~~went directly to the news publishers’ platform (Josh Schwartz, “What Happens When Facebook Goes Down? People~~
~~Read the News,” Nieman Lab, October 22, 2018, at https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/10/what-happens-when-~~
~~facebook-goes-down-people-read-the-news/), while others found that fewer individuals do (Catarina Sismeiro and~~
~~Ammara Mahmod, “Competitive vs. Complementary Effects in Online Social Networks and News Consumption: A~~
~~Natural Experiment,” Management Science, vol. 64, no. 11 (November 2018), pp. 5014-5037).~~
~~68 For example, Facebook offers various tools, such as Page Insights, that provide information on the number of views~~
~~and other metrics for each piece of content. Facebook, “The Journalist’s Guide to Facebook and Instagram,” Facebook~~
~~Journalism Project, May 2021.~~
~~69 Meta, “Introducing Meta: A Social Technology Company,” October 28, 2021, at https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/~~
~~facebook-company-is-now-meta/.~~
~~70 Lukas Alpert and Sahil Patel, “With Facebook’s Coming News Tab, Only Some Will Get Paid,” Wall Street Journal,~~
~~September 30, 2019, at https://www.wsj.com/articles/with-facebooks-coming-news-tab-only-some-will-get-paid-~~
~~11569852600.~~
~~71 Campbell Brown, “Creating More Opportunities for Independent, Local Writers to Thrive,” Meta Journalism Project,~~
~~April 29, 2021, at https://www.facebook.com/journalismproject/apply-platform-independent-writers.~~
~~72 Tribune 2020 SEC Form 10-K., p. 10;~~Sarah Perez, “Microsoft Launches a Personalized News Service, Microsoft Start,” TechCrunch, September 7, 2021, at https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/07/microsoft-launches-a-personalized-news-service-microsoft-start/. 72 Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law of the Committee on the Judiciary, Investigation of Competition in Digital Markets: Majority Staff Report and Recommendations, October 6, 2020, p. 187, at https://judiciary.house.gov/uploadedfiles/competition_in_digital_markets.pdf. 73 Apple, “iPad & iPhone,” App Store Preview, accessed on October 19, 2021, at https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/apple/id284417353?mt=12#see-all/i-phonei-pad-apps. Congressional Research Service 11 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age for news aggregators that do not operate similar access points to compete, increasing the market power of the integrated aggregators. Social Media Platforms Social media platforms distribute newspapers’ content in a variety of ways.74 Newspapers can create their own social media accounts, individual reporters can post information, and other users can post and share links to newspaper articles. In these cases, content from newspapers is intermixed with content from other sources. Some social media platforms have created sections of their platforms that provide news articles only from selected newspapers, including local ones.75 Similarly to news aggregators, social media platforms can increase the visibility of some newspaper articles while diminishing it for others. These platforms have an incentive to amplify publishers’ content that they expect will increase user engagement, which could increase their revenue from online advertising.76 Some social media platforms recommend content, which can include newspaper content that increases user engagement, even if nobody in the user’s network directly shares the article. One study found that social media platforms could increase online news consumption, potentially reducing the amount of time readers spend on news publishers’ platforms. 77 Some studies have found that when users are unable to access news content through social media, more individuals than not will go directly to the news publishers’ platform;78 other studies have found that fewer individuals will do so.79 Some social media platforms have developed technologies that make it possible for publishers to obtain more detailed information about their readers and target potential readers;80 some newspapers, particularly smaller ones, may not have direct access to these technologies. The complexities of social media platforms’ relationship with newspapers mirror those of news aggregators. Detailed information about social media platforms’ agreements with newspaper publishers typically are not publicly available. For example, when Meta launched a news section on its platform Facebook, it reportedly paid licensing fees to only some of the publishers whose articles it republished, with the amount depending on the size of the publisher.81 Meta 74 News publishers can be affected by other aspects of social media, such as users posting information about an incident (e.g., car accident, shooting), particularly if it goes viral. These potential effects are beyond the scope of this report. 75 For example, Facebook launched a section exclusively for news—Facebook News—in June 2020. See Sarah Perez, “Facebook Launches to All U.S. with Addition of Local News and Video,” TechCrunch, June 9, 2020, at https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/09/facebook-news-launches-to-all-in-u-s-with-addition-of-local-news-and-video/; and Facebook, “How Facebook News Works,” Facebook News, at https://www.facebook.com/news/howitworks. 76 Online advertising is the primary source of revenue for most social media platforms. For example, in 2020, online advertising made up 98% of Facebook’s total revenue and 86% of Twitter’s. See Facebook Inc. SEC Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2020, and Twitter Inc. SEC Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2020. 77 Sinan Aral and Michael Zhao, “Social Media Sharing and Online News Consumption,” SSRN, posted February 14, 2019, at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3328864. 78 See, for example, Josh Schwartz, “What Happens When Facebook Goes Down? People Read the News,” Nieman Lab, October 22, 2018, at https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/10/what-happens-when-facebook-goes-down-people-read-the-news/. 79 See, for example, Catarina Sismeiro and Ammara Mahmod, “Competitive vs. Complementary Effects in Online Social Networks and News Consumption: A Natural Experiment,” Management Science, vol. 64, no. 11 (November 2018), pp. 5014-5037. 80 For example, Facebook offers various tools, such as Page Insights, that provide information on the number of views and other metrics for each piece of content. Facebook, “The Journalist’s Guide to Facebook and Instagram,” Facebook Journalism Project, May 2021. 81 Lukas Alpert and Sahil Patel, “With Facebook’s Coming News Tab, Only Some Will Get Paid,” Wall Street Journal, Congressional Research Service 12 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age subsequently stated that it would pay $5 million to support local journalists to “regularly publish written, public-interest journalism focused on a local community,” with precedence given to areas that “are not currently served by an existing journalism entity.”82 Recent layoffs at Meta might affect its various news-related efforts.83 Research firm eMarketer estimates that as of May 2023, 52.4% of the U.S. population uses Facebook at least once per month.84 Role of Copyright Laws In the United States, several provisions of copyright law protect publishers’ news content. First, a publisher typically owns the copyright in the “collective work” of articles contained in its website or publication.85 Second, publishers can assert rights in individual articles via the work-made-for-hire doctrine.86 With respect to photographs, however, it is generally photographers, not publishers, who own the original rights to display those images to the public,87 although photographers may license or authorize others to sublicense those images to news publishers.88 The Copyright Act generally prohibits aggregators and other online platforms from distributing full articles without the express consent of the copyright owner (usually the publisher).89 The extent of these legal protections, however, is not always clear.90 For example, Google News September 30, 2019, at https://www.wsj.com/articles/with-facebooks-coming-news-tab-only-some-will-get-paid-11569852600. 82 Campbell Brown, “Creating More Opportunities for Independent, Local Writers to Thrive,” Meta Journalism Project, April 29, 2021, at https://www.facebook.com/journalismproject/apply-platform-independent-writers. 83 Sarah Scire, “Meta’s Layoffs Make it Official: Facebook is Ready to Part Ways with the News,” Nieman Lab, November 14, 2022, at https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/11/metas-layoffs-make-it-official-facebook-is-ready-to-part-ways-with-the-news/. 84 eMarketer, “Social Network Users Penetration by Platform, U.S., 2023,” May 2023. The second-most popular social platform, by U.S. user penetration, is Instagram, which is accessed at least once per month by 39.8% of the U.S. population. Facebook (now Meta) acquired Instagram in 2012. Jenna Wortham, “It’s Official: Facebook Closes Its Acquisition of Instagram,” New York Times, September 6, 2012, at https://archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/its-official-facebook-closes-its-acquisition-of-instagram/. 85 Ibid. The Copyright Act defines collective work as a work “in which a number of contributions, constituting separate and independent works in themselves, are assembled into a collective whole.” 17 U.S.C. §101. In addition, the Copyright Act considers collective works as a type of compilation, which the act in turn is defines as “a work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship.” 86 “Work made for hire” is a category of works created for an employer or commissioning party, for which, for copyright purposes, the individual(s) who create the work are not considered the author(s) or initial owner(s). Instead, the author is either (1) the employer of that individual, if the work is prepared within the scope of employment or (2) the entity who commissions or orders the creation of the work, provided that the work fits within one of nine specific categories and the parties expressly agree in a signed writing that “the work shall be considered a work made for hire.” 17 U.S.C. §101. 87 17 U.S.C. §101(5). 88 Comments of the National Press Photographers Association Joined by the American Society of Media Photographers in response to U.S. Copyright Office’s Request for Additional Comments for Study on Ancillary Copyright Protections for Publishers, November 9, 2021, p. 3, at https://www.regulations.gov/comment/COLC-2021-0006-0053. See also Associated Press, “AP Images: License Images and Photos,” at https://www.apimages.com/license-pictures. 89 17 U.S.C. §106(3). 90 In addition to immunity afforded by copyright laws, online platforms—including news aggregators—might receive federal immunity from liability for content provided by a third party (e.g., the news publisher) under §230 of the Communications Act of 1934. For more information, see CRS Report R46751, Section 230: An Overview, by Valerie C. Brannon and Eric N. Holmes. Congressional Research Service 13 link to page 7 link to page 8 link to page 32 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age provides snippets of news articles on its Home Page and in search results.91 While Google considers this fair use of publishers’ content,92 some newspaper publishers have claimed that the Copyright Act does not provide a clear-cut standard to determine what constitutes fair use.93 In comments to the Copyright Office, publishers claimed that the majority of their content is distributed by Google and Facebook, who in turn collect, post, and disseminate newspaper publishers’ content without the publishers’ permission.94 As a result, the publishers claimed, the publishers are losing access to potential subscribers and advertisers, further depressing their revenues.95 In June 2022, in response to a request from several members of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, the U.S. Copyright Office published a report entitled Copyright Protections for Publishers.96 The report assessed the viability of establishing “ancillary copyright” protections for press publishers, similar to protections implemented in the European Union, which would require online news aggregators to pay publishers for excerpts of content they provide for others to view. The Copyright Office did not recommend adopting additional copyright-like rights for publishers, concluding the following: [A]ncillary copyright protections have not been shown to be necessary in light of publishers’ existing rights, and would likely be ineffective so long as publishers depend on news aggregators for discoverability. Moreover, to the extent that any ancillary copyright protections would lack traditional copyright limitations and exceptions, they would raise significant policy and Constitutional concerns.97 Furthermore, the Copyright Office stated that the publishers and online platforms that commented on the report “emphasize[d] that they see the challenges publishers face as more a matter of competition policy than copyright.”98 In its 2021 annual report, newspaper publisher Gannett stated, “We generally are not compensated for the consumption of our original content on third-party digital products and social platforms.”99 Newspaper Websites: Flow of Advertising Revenue As discussed in “Newspaper Revenue Trends,” online advertising has become a growing source of revenue for newspaper publishers (see Figure 2). Nevertheless, that revenue has been 91 Google, “Best Practices for Your Article Pages,” Google Publisher Center Help, at https://support.google.com/news/publisher-center/answer/9607104?hl=en. 92 Richard Gingras, “Setting the Record Straight on News,” Google News Initiative Blog, June 26, 2020, at https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/setting-record-straight-news/. 93 Johannes Munter, “Fairer Fair Use,” News Media Alliance, February 27, 2021 at https://www.newsmediaalliance.org/fairer-fair-use/. 94 News Media Alliance Comments for 2022 Copyright Office Report, pp. 2-3, 8. 95 Ibid., pp. 2-3. The News Media Alliance claims that the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2022 (JCPA)—described in “Amending Clayton Act to Place Restrictions on Ad Tech Ownership: AMERICA Act”—by amending antitrust laws temporarily, would “allow press publishers to collectively negotiation with Facebook and Google for fair compensation for the use of their content.” Ibid., p. 23. 96 Shira Permulter, Copyright Protections for Press Publishers, U.S. Copyright Office, Washington, DC, June 2022, at https://www.copyright.gov/policy/publishersprotections/202206-Publishers-Protections-Study.pdf. 97 Ibid., p. 2. 98 Ibid. 99 Gannett Co., Inc. SEC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, p. 21 (hereinafter Gannett 2021 SEC Form 10-K) ~~Gannett Co., Inc. SEC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,~~
~~2020, pp. 19-20 (Gannett 2020 SEC Form 10-K); NYT 2020 Annual Report, p. 12~~. .
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~~advertising~~ insufficient to compensate for the decline in print advertising. More generally, a proliferation of options has constrained the prices media outlets can charge for online advertising.100 To attract readers to their websites and sell online advertisements, newspaper publishers must rely on some of the companies that they compete with for advertising revenue. For example, newspapers rely on Google’s search engine and its Google News aggregation service to refer readers to their news sites. In addition, both advertisers and newspaper publishers rely on Google to supply the technology necessary to place online advertisements. This section describes how the structure of the online advertising industry—particularly the structure of the automated, or programmatic, advertising industry—affects the flow of advertising revenue to newspaper publishers, and the role of Google in the advertising technology revenue to newspaper publishers, and the role of Google in the advertising technology
supply chain. supply chain.
Digital Advertising Formats/Types of Expenditures
Digital advertising typically appears in one of six forms:Digital advertising typically appears in one of six forms:73
 ~~Digital display~~101  Search advertising ~~describes the “boxes” on websites, apps, or~~
~~platforms that appear along the top of the screen as a “banner ad” or elsewhere~~
~~on the screen. Digital display represented an estimated 31.5% of the $139.8~~
is the term used to describe listings of advertisers returned in response to a consumer’s web search query. The advertisers pay to have their names and website links included or prioritized among the search results. Search accounted for an estimated 40.2% of the $209.7 billion in U.S. digital advertising expenditures in billion in U.S. digital advertising expenditures in ~~2020.~~
 ~~Search~~2022.  Digital display advertising ~~is the term used to describe listings of advertisers returned in~~
~~response to a consumer’s query. The advertisers pay to have their names and~~
~~website links included and/or prioritized among the query results. Search~~
~~accounted for an estimated 42% of 2020~~describes the boxes on websites, apps, or platforms that appear along the top of the screen as a banner ad or elsewhere on the screen of a desktop/laptop computer, mobile device, or television connected to the internet.102 Digital display represented an estimated 30.3% of 2022 digital ad spending in the United States. digital ad spending in the United States.
  Video advertising refers to online advertisements that contain video. These refers to online advertisements that contain video. These
accounted for an estimated accounted for an estimated 1822.9% of % of ~~2020~~2022 U.S. digital advertising expenditures. U.S. digital advertising expenditures.103
  Classified advertisements. ~~These accounted for an estimated 2.9% of 2020 U.S.~~
~~digital advertising expenditures.~~
refers to online advertisements listing specific products or services (e.g., jobs and real estate listings).   Lead generation fees refer to payments made by advertisers to website operators fees refer to payments made by advertisers to website operators
that refer qualified potential customers or provide information about consumers that refer qualified potential customers or provide information about consumers
who have agreed to be contacted by advertisers. who have agreed to be contacted by advertisers. ~~These~~Combined, classified advertising and lead generation represented an estimated represented an estimated
~~2.4~~4.2% of % of ~~2020~~2022 U.S. digital U.S. digital advertising expenditures. 100 Gannett 2021 SEC Form 10-K, p. 18; and NYT 2021 SEC Form 10-K, p. 11. 101 PwC and Internet Advertising Bureau, Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full-Year 2022 Results, April 2023, pp. 15, 22-23, at https://www.iab.com/insights/internet-advertising-revenue-report-full-year-2022/. 102 eMarketer, Display Ad Spending by Device: U.S., 2023, March 2023 (describing display ad spending, by device) (available via subscription to Inside Intelligence eMarketer). 103 eMarketer estimates that in 2022, Meta (via its Facebook and Instagram social media platforms) had a 30.2% share of video advertising spending, compared with an 8.9% share of spending for YouTube and 62% for TikTok. Sara Lebow, “TikTok Threatening YouTube in U.S. Video Ad Spend,” eMarketer, May 17, 2023. National newspaper publishers, such as New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, also sell online video advertising. Michael Sebastion, “Pressing Print’s Case at Digital NewFronts,” AdAge, May 5, 2015. Congressional Research Service 15 link to page 13 link to page 16 link to page 24 link to page 21 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age ~~advertising expenditures.~~
  Audio formats are audio-only advertisements. Digital audio advertisements are audio-only advertisements. Digital audio advertisements
occur in streaming music services and podcasts, among other media. These occur in streaming music services and podcasts, among other media. These
represented an estimated 2.represented an estimated 2.18% of % of ~~2020~~2022 U.S. digital advertising expenditures. U.S. digital advertising expenditures.104
Thus, the most popular formats of digital advertising are digital Thus, the most popular formats of digital advertising are digital ~~display and search~~search and display, which , which
combined accounted for combined accounted for 7370.5%, or $.5%, or $~~102.8~~147.9 billion, of billion, of ~~2020~~2022 U.S. digital advertising expenditures. The companies with the largest share of advertising revenues in each format, Google and Meta, respectively, each rely to some extent on news stories and headlines produced by newspaper publishers to generate those revenues. According to research firm eMarketer, 56.1% share of total search ad spending went to Google, 22.6% to Amazon, and 5.3% to Microsoft.105 Google News, described in “News Aggregators,” relies on newspaper publishers’ stories and headlines to generate revenues from this format. eMarketer estimates that 36.3% of digital display advertising went to Meta, 9.8% to Google, 6.1% to Amazon, and 2.0% to Microsoft. Most of newspaper publishers’ online advertising revenues come from digital display advertising.106 Thus, while newspaper publishers, as described in “Social Media Platforms,” rely on Meta’s Facebook and others to promote their websites to readers, the publishers also compete with Meta for display advertising revenues. In addition, Google, as described in “Advertising Technology Stack and Related Antitrust Lawsuits,” plays a significant role as an intermediary in the buying and selling of digital display advertising. ~~U.S. digital advertising expenditures.~~
~~Market research firms and government studies indicate that Google plays a significant role in the~~
~~selling of each format, both directly (especially in search)74 and indirectly, as an intermediary in~~
~~the display advertising marketplace. Most local newspapers primarily rely on “digital display~~
~~advertising” for online advertising revenues.75~~
Reliance on Technology Firms in Programmatic Advertising
The process of purchasing and selling advertising in nondigital media (e.g., print editions of The process of purchasing and selling advertising in nondigital media (e.g., print editions of
newspapers) has traditionally been relatively straightforward: advertisers or their advertising newspapers) has traditionally been relatively straightforward: advertisers or their advertising
agencies contacted the media organization’s salespeople (or vice versa), and the parties would agencies contacted the media organization’s salespeople (or vice versa), and the parties would
negotiate and agree on contracts concerning price, ad placement, and frequency, among other negotiate and agree on contracts concerning price, ad placement, and frequency, among other
terms and conditions. In the early days of digital advertising, the process was similar, involving terms and conditions. In the early days of digital advertising, the process was similar, involving
bilateral negotiations between representatives of buyers and sellers of advertising.bilateral negotiations between representatives of buyers and sellers of advertising.~~76 The process~~

~~73 PwC and Internet Advertising Bureau, Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full-Year 2020 Results, New York, NY,~~
~~April 2021, p. 14, at https://www.iab.com/insights/internet-advertising-revenue-report/.~~
~~74 Research firm e-Marketer estimated that Google would have 56.8% of all U.S. ad search revenue during 2021. Sara~~
~~Lebow, “Google Collects More Than Half of All U.S. Search Ad Revenue,” eMarketer, April 12, 2021, at~~
~~https://www.emarketer.com/content/google-collects-more-than-half-of-all-us-search-ad-revenue.~~
~~75 See, for example, DallasNews SEC Form 10-K, p. 13 (explaining components of its digital advertising revenues).~~
~~76 OECD November 2020 Report, p. 14.~~
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~~was based solely on “contextual targeting.” That is, brands associated with a particular topic~~
~~would attempt to place advertisements in spaces next to related articles or within related websites.~~
Figure 5 illustrates how a classified advertisement sold directly via a newspaper publisher, based
~~on contextual targeting, appears to a visitor of the newspaper’s website.~~
~~Figure 5. Classified Ad Based on Contextual Targeting~~

Source: New York Times, December 21, 2021, at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/21/theater/broadway-covid-
~~omicron.html (visited December 21, 2021).~~
~~In the last 25 years, however, the~~107 The process was based solely on contextual targeting tactics—the placement of an advertisement relevant to a user based on the similarity between the characteristics of the advertisement and the characteristics of the content next to it.108 Figure 4 illustrates how a classified advertisement sold directly via a newspaper publisher, based on contextual targeting, appears to a visitor of the newspaper’s website. 104 Although the New York Times Company’s podcast “The Daily” is one of the most popular podcasts in the United States, with 2 million daily downloads as of January 2020, reports indicate that the most popular podcasts—in part because of the relatively high prices they charge compared with less popular podcasts—may be struggling to sell out their inventory as advertisers’ budgets shrink. Daniel Kostantinovic, “While Top Podcasts Like ‘The Daily’ Struggle to Sell ad Space, Smaller Shows Thrive,” eMarketer, May 9, 2023. 105 Evelyn Mitchell, “U.S. Search Ad Spending 2022,” eMarketer, September 12, 2022. 106 For example, of the total amount of online revenue Gannett generated from online advertising and marketing services in 2021, “display advertising either delivered on our products or off-platform on partner channels such as Facebook Instant Articles and Apple News” generated 66%, or $361 million. Gannett 2021 SEC Form 10-K, pp. 6, 44. 107 OECD November 2020 Report, p. 14. 108 Evelyn Mitchell et al., Programmatic Advertising Explainer, Insider Intelligencer, eMarketer, July 2022, p. 9. Congressional Research Service 16 link to page 27 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age Figure 4. Display Ad Based on Contextual Targeting Source: Joumana Khathib, “13 New Books Coming in May,” New York Times, May 1, 2023, at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/books/new-may-books.html (visited May 23, 2023). The buying and selling of digital advertising has become more buying and selling of digital advertising has become more
automated and complex, withautomated and complex, with algorithmic computer software computer software ~~using algorithms~~used to buy and sell advertising on to buy and sell advertising on
newspapers’ websites via intermediaries. The term newspapers’ websites via intermediaries. The term ~~“programmatic”~~programmatic refers to this automated refers to this automated
process of buying and selling advertisements.process of buying and selling advertisements.
Research firm eMarketer estimates that as of 2023, programmatic transactions represent 91.1% of digital display advertisement spending is the United States.109 Regardless of whether online publishers sell their online display advertising inventory directly to Regardless of whether online publishers sell their online display advertising inventory directly to
advertisersadvertisers, or indirectly (via intermediaries), the advertisements target specific users at specific or indirectly (via intermediaries), the advertisements target specific users at specific
times and locations.times and locations.77110 Instead of purchasing inventory based on the content of a newspaper’s Instead of purchasing inventory based on the content of a newspaper’s
online articles, advertisers purchase the inventory based on the ability to reach a specific user. online articles, advertisers purchase the inventory based on the ability to reach a specific user.
Behavioral targeting tactics refers to the placement of an advertisement to a user based on a user’s online browsing activity and purchase history.111 Because online ads are targeted at individual users, a website with three different ad slots on a Because online ads are targeted at individual users, a website with three different ad slots on a
page with 1 million page with 1 million ~~readers~~views has 3 has 3 million unique ad units to sell. 109 Evelyn Mitchell et al. Programmatic Ad Spending Forecast Q1 2023, Insider Intelligence, eMarketer, February 2023, p. 2. In contrast to the Internet Advertising Bureau, eMarketer includes video advertising, as well as banners, rich media, sponsorships, and advertisements that appear within social media fees in its estimates of display advertising. Insider Intelligence, eMarketer, “Display Ad Spending US, 2022 – 2024,” March 2023 (available on eMarketer website via subscription). 110 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, p.17~~million unique ad units to sell.~~
~~Direct Programmatic Sales Process: Large Publishers~~
Large publishers, including publishers of major national newspapers such as the New York Times
~~and the Wall Street Journal, can sell their advertising inventory directly to advertisers.78 In a~~

~~77 Third Amended Complaint, State of Texas, et al. v. Google LLC, No. 1:21-md-03010-PKC (S.D. NY January 14,~~
~~2022), ¶¶44-45 (Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint)~~. For more information about this . For more information about this
lawsuit, see lawsuit, see “~~Google’s Role in Advertising Technology Stack~~U.S. Allegations Regarding Google’s Conduct.” The states originally filed their third amended The states originally filed their third amended
complaint in November 2021, Third Amended Complaint, The State of Texas, et al. v. Google, LLC, 1:21-CV-06841 complaint in November 2021, Third Amended Complaint, The State of Texas, et al. v. Google, LLC, 1:21-CV-06841
(S.D.N.Y. November 12, 2021). The Southern District of New York released a version in January 2022 with fewer (S.D.N.Y. November 12, 2021). The Southern District of New York released a version in January 2022 with fewer
redactions. This report references the January 2022 version. redactions. This report references the January 2022 version.
~~78 OECD November 2020 Report, p. 15. In an effort to improve users’ experiences, the New York Times Company has~~111 Evelyn Mitchell et al. Programmatic Ad Spending Forecast Q1 2023, Insider Intelligence, eMarketer, February 2023, p. 2.
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Direct Programmatic Sales Process: Large Publishers Large publishers, including publishers of major national newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, can sell their advertising inventory directly to advertisers.112 In a process called ~~process called “~~programmatic directprogrammatic direct,,” large publishers conduct automated private auctions of large publishers conduct automated private auctions of
advertising space or employ salespeople to negotiate longer-term placements with advertisers. advertising space or employ salespeople to negotiate longer-term placements with advertisers.
Programmatic direct transactions involve one seller and one buyer.113 The publishers’ own ad servers manage the inventory of available advertising spaces and are The publishers’ own ad servers manage the inventory of available advertising spaces and are
responsible for the decision logic underlying the final choice of which ad to serve, based on the responsible for the decision logic underlying the final choice of which ad to serve, based on the
direct deals reached between the publisher and advertisers.direct deals reached between the publisher and advertisers.79114 According to Google’s internal According to Google’s internal
analysis, large news publishers keep 95% of the revenue when they sell advertisements analysis, large news publishers keep 95% of the revenue when they sell advertisements ~~directly in~~
in this way.this way.80115 eMarketer estimates that programmatic direct represents about three-quarters of programmatic digital display advertising, due primarily to the prominence of social media websites, which account for just over half of all programmatic display advertising spending.116
Indirect Programmatic Sales Process: Smaller Publishers
A publisher cannot forecast precisely how many of its ad spaces will be available to sell directly A publisher cannot forecast precisely how many of its ad spaces will be available to sell directly
to advertisers because its inventory depends on how many users actually visit the publisher’s to advertisers because its inventory depends on how many users actually visit the publisher’s
website.website.81117 For this reason, a publisher may find itself with unsold surplus inventory. Enabling For this reason, a publisher may find itself with unsold surplus inventory. Enabling
publishers to sell inventory that otherwise might be surplus was the original impetus for the publishers to sell inventory that otherwise might be surplus was the original impetus for the
development of a specialized development of a specialized ~~“indirect”~~indirect distribution channel, whereby publishers sell their ad distribution channel, whereby publishers sell their ad
inventory indirectly to advertisers via auctions. inventory indirectly to advertisers via auctions.
~~“Indirect” sales occur~~Real-time bidding (RTB) is an auction-based approach used to buy or sell advertising inventory.118 Indirect sales, which account for about one-quarter of programmatic digital display advertising, occur via RTB through centralized electronic trading venues called through centralized electronic trading venues called “ad exchangesad exchanges” and and
through through ~~“networks”~~networks of publishers and advertisers. Publishers that sell this way permit ad of publishers and advertisers. Publishers that sell this way permit ad
exchanges to auction off some or their entire inventory to advertisers in real time; in return, the ad exchanges to auction off some or their entire inventory to advertisers in real time; in return, the ad
exchange or network exchange or network ~~will retain~~retains a portion of the proceeds. a portion of the proceeds. Figure 65 illustrates how a display illustrates how a display
advertisement sold via indirect advertising appears to advertisement sold via indirect advertising appears to ~~some~~certain readers of an online newspaper’s readers of an online newspaper’s
website. Based on website. Based on ~~his/her/their~~individual behavioral data, behavioral data, ~~another reader~~different readers viewing the same article might see viewing the same article might see
~~a different display advertisement~~different digital display adverting. 112 Sacha Wunch-Vincent and Graham Vickery, The Evolution of News and the Internet, OECD Working Party on the Information Economy, June 11, 2010, p. 8, at https://www.oecd.org/sti/ieconomy/oecdexaminesthefutureofnewsandtheinternet.htm. OECD November 2020 Report, p. 15. In an effort to improve users’ experiences, the New York Times Company has .

limited advertising presented in its iOS (Apple) and Android (Google) mobile applications to ads it sells directly. NYT limited advertising presented in its iOS (Apple) and Android (Google) mobile applications to ads it sells directly. NYT
~~2020~~2021 Annual Report, p. Annual Report, p. 1211. .
79113 Evelyn Mitchell et al., Programmatic Advertising Explainer, Insider Intelligencer eMarketer, July 2022, p. 4. 114 Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), United Kingdom, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), United Kingdom, Online Platforms and Digital Advertising, Market , Market
Study Final Report, London, UK, July 2020, Appendix M, p. M5, at https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/online-platforms-Study Final Report, London, UK, July 2020, Appendix M, p. M5, at https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/online-platforms-
and-digital-advertising-market-study#final-report (and-digital-advertising-market-study#final-report (hereinafter July 2020 CMA Report). July 2020 CMA Report).
~~80 Stewart, Bonita, Vice President, Global Partnerships, Google~~115 Bonita Stewart, “A Look at How News Publishers Make Money with , “A Look at How News Publishers Make Money with
Google Ad Manager,” Google Ad Manager (blog), Google, June 23, 2020, at https://blog.google/products/Google Ad Manager,” Google Ad Manager (blog), Google, June 23, 2020, at https://blog.google/products/
admanager/news-publishers-make-money-ad-manager/admanager/news-publishers-make-money-ad-manager/.
~~81 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, ¶42.~~
~~Congressional Research Service~~

16 (hereinafter June 2020 Google blog.) 116 Evelyn Mitchell et al., Programmatic Advertising Explainer, Insider Intelligencer eMarketer, July 2022, p. 10. 117 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, p. 16-17. 118 Evelyn Mitchell et al. Programmatic Ad Spending Forecast Q1 2023, Insider Intelligence, eMarketer, February 2023, p. 14. Congressional Research Service 18

Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age

Figure 65. Display Advertising Sold via Indirect Advertising

Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 15, 2021, at https://www.twincities.com/2021/11/15/design-picked-for-, November 15, 2021, at https://www.twincities.com/2021/11/15/design-picked-for-
new-rice-street-in-st-paul/. new-rice-street-in-st-paul/.
Most online publishers in the United States sell at least some of their inventory to advertisers Most online publishers in the United States sell at least some of their inventory to advertisers
indirectly. However, smaller publishers, including those of local newspapers, are more likely than indirectly. However, smaller publishers, including those of local newspapers, are more likely than
large publishers to rely exclusively on the indirect programmatic sales process. large publishers to rely exclusively on the indirect programmatic sales process. ~~As the~~The Australian Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), in its December 2020 interim report, explained Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), in its December 2020 interim report, explained
~~For many small advertisers and publishers that currently engage in the ad tech~~ that [f]or many small advertisers and publishers that currently engage in the ad tech supply supply chain, the costs involved in relying on direct negotiation for a large proportion of ~~chain,~~
~~the costs involved in relying on direct negotiation for a large proportion of~~ their display their display
advertising may be prohibitive.... [I]n comparison to selling via the ad tech supply chain, advertising may be prohibitive.... [I]n comparison to selling via the ad tech supply chain,
many publishers may not have the time, resources or expertise to sell all ad inventory on many publishers may not have the time, resources or expertise to sell all ad inventory on
[their] website[s] via direct deals and programmatic direct. As such, publishers may lose [their] website[s] via direct deals and programmatic direct. As such, publishers may lose
potential revenue if they do not also sell inventory via the ad tech supply chain.potential revenue if they do not also sell inventory via the ad tech supply chain.82
~~Several studies, using various methodologies, indicate that publishers keep only 49% to 67% of~~
~~indirect programmatic advertising spending.83 The remaining revenue flows to ad technology (“ad~~
~~tech”) intermediaries.~~119 As of 2022, about 42% of indirect programmatic sales spending went to ad tech intermediaries in the form of fees.120 eMarketer notes that “fees vary greatly by partner, and not every ad tech intermediary is always upfront (or consistent) about how much they take.”121 The extreme complexity of the indirect programmatic advertising sales The extreme complexity of the indirect programmatic advertising sales
process contributes to what a British study describes as “a markedly opaque supply chain.”process contributes to what a British study describes as “a markedly opaque supply chain.”84
~~According to the December 2020 ACCC Interim Report, “The opaque and complex nature of the~~
~~ad tech supply chain can mean that ... [i]t may ... be difficult for stakeholders to know whether~~
~~[ad-tech intermediaries are engaging in] conduct such as self-preferencing.”~~
122
82119 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Digital Advertising Services Inquiry, Interim Report, , Interim Report,
~~Canberra,~~ December 2020, p. 115, at https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/inquiries-ongoing/digital-advertising-December 2020, p. 115, at https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/inquiries-ongoing/digital-advertising-
services-inquiryservices-inquiry~~. (~~ (hereinafter December 2020 ACCC Interim ReportDecember 2020 ACCC Interim Report.)
~~83 Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) and Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP (PwC),~~ ~~ISBA Programmatic~~
~~Supply Chain Transparency Study, London, UK, May 2020, p. 8, at https://www.isba.org.uk/media/2424/executive-~~
~~summary-programmatic-supply-chain-transparency-study.pdf (ISBA and PwC May 2020 Study); Amy He,~~
~~“eMarketer’s New Ad Tech Tax Estimates that Nearly One-Third of Spending Goes to Intermediaries,” eMarketer,~~
~~August 5, 2019, at https://www.emarketer.com/content/emarketer-s-new-ad-tech-tax-estimates-show-one-third-of-~~
~~spending-goes-to-intermediaries. The variance is based on different methodologies.~~
~~84 ISBA and PwC May 2020 Study, p. 7.~~
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). 120 Evelyn Mitchell et al., Programmatic Advertising Explainer, Insider Intelligencer eMarketer, July 2022, p. 10. 121 Ibid. 122 ISBA and PwC May 2020 Study, p. 7. Congressional Research Service 19 link to page 25 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age According to the December 2020 ACCC Interim Report, “The opaque and complex nature of the ad tech supply chain can mean that ... [i]t may ... be difficult for stakeholders to know whether [ad-tech intermediaries are engaging in] conduct such as self-preferencing.”123 In an effort to enable newspaper publishers to keep more digital advertising revenue that would In an effort to enable newspaper publishers to keep more digital advertising revenue that would
otherwise flow to ad tech intermediaries, an independent advertising agency launched a campaign otherwise flow to ad tech intermediaries, an independent advertising agency launched a campaign
in February 2021 to encourage U.S. companies to, among other actions, pledge to reallocate 20% in February 2021 to encourage U.S. companies to, among other actions, pledge to reallocate 20%
of their programmatic advertising budgets directly to local news sources.of their programmatic advertising budgets directly to local news sources.85
~~Allegations of Anticompetitive Behavior~~
~~Google’s Role in Advertising Technology Stack~~
As Figure 7124 Advertising Technology Stack and Related Antitrust Lawsuits As Figure 6 illustrates, Google has a presence in each component of the tools and software that illustrates, Google has a presence in each component of the tools and software that
publishers and advertisers use to transmit online advertisements to users, also known as the publishers and advertisers use to transmit online advertisements to users, also known as the
“advertising technology stackadvertising technology stack (ad tech stack)..” State and foreign government officials allege that Google’s State and foreign government officials allege that Google’s
various roles in the advertising technology stack incentivize and enable it to prioritize its own various roles in the advertising technology stack incentivize and enable it to prioritize its own
interests above those of its customers, including newspaper publishers and advertisers, and interests above those of its customers, including newspaper publishers and advertisers, and
to generate higher fees than it could in a competitive market. generate higher fees than it could in a competitive market.
~~Figure 7. Google’s Presence in Advertising Technology Stack~~

Source: CRS analysis of data from December 2020 ACCC Interim Report. See also Jon Fletcher, “How to Use
~~Google Ad Manager as Publisher,” Marfeel. October 15, 2020, at https://www.marfeel.com/resources/blog/use-~~
~~google-ad-manager-as-a-publisher.~~
Note: Some advertisers work with ad agencies to purchase online advertisements, while others do not.

85 123 ACCC, Digital Advertising Services Inquiry, Interim Report, December 2020, at https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/inquiries-ongoing/digital-advertising-services-inquiry. 124 Alison Weissbrot, “Indie Agency Allen & Gerritsen Urges Ad Industry to Support Local News,” Alison Weissbrot, “Indie Agency Allen & Gerritsen Urges Ad Industry to Support Local News,” Campaign, ,
February 18, 2021, at https://www.campaignlive.com/article/indie-agency-allen-gerritsen-urges-ad-industry-support-February 18, 2021, at https://www.campaignlive.com/article/indie-agency-allen-gerritsen-urges-ad-industry-support-
local-news/1707799. See also Allen & Gerritsen, “Protect Our Press,” at https://protectourpress.org/thepledge. local-news/1707799. See also Allen & Gerritsen, “Protect Our Press,” at https://protectourpress.org/thepledge.
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~~link to page 24 link to page 24~~ 20 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age Figure 6. Google’s Presence in Advertising Technology Stack Sources: CRS analysis of data from Evelyn Mitchell, Programmatic Advertiser Explainer, eMarketer, June 19, 2022 (report). See also Jon Fletcher, “How to Use Google Ad Manager as Publisher,” Marfeel, October 15, 2020, at https://www.marfeel.com/resources/blog/use-google-ad-manager-as-a-publisher. Note: Some advertisers work with ad agencies to purchase online advertisements; others do not. ~~Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age~~

Components of Advertising Technology Stack
Ad servers store and manage ads from store and manage ads from ~~across different ad campaigns to automatically decide~~
a variety of advertisers and automate the process of selecting which ads to serve to which visitors on certain web pageswhich ads to serve to which visitors on certain web pages~~, and to~~. Ad servers also gather data about how users gather data about how users
interact with the ads displayed to them.interact with the ads displayed to them.86125 Publishers tend to focus on using ad servers to manage Publishers tend to focus on using ad servers to manage
their ad inventory and reporting, while advertisers tend to focus on using them for managing the their ad inventory and reporting, while advertisers tend to focus on using them for managing the
creative features of their advertising campaigns. creative features of their advertising campaigns.
An An ad exchange is a digital marketplace that enables advertisers and publishers to buy and sell is a digital marketplace that enables advertisers and publishers to buy and sell
display and mobile advertising inventory, often through real-time auctions.display and mobile advertising inventory, often through real-time auctions.87126 Ad exchanges that Ad exchanges that
serve the interests of both publishers and advertisers are serve the interests of both publishers and advertisers are ~~both~~ transparent and neutral when transparent and neutral when
routing routing information about the parties’ asking and bidding prices. 125 “Ad Servers vs. DSPs, SSPs, DMPs & CDPS: Differences Clarified,” General (blog), AdButler, March 31, 2021, at https://www.adbutler.com/blog/article/ad-servers-vs-dsp-vs-ssp-vs-dmp-vs-cdp-vs-crm (March 2021 AdButler blog). 126 Jack Marshall, “WTF Is an ad exchange?,” Digiday, January 30, 2014, at https://digiday.com/media/what-is-an-ad-exchange/. Congressional Research Service 21 link to page 27 link to page 27 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age ~~information about the parties’ asking and bidding prices.~~
A A supply side platform (SSP) is a piece of software used to sell publishers’ is a piece of software used to sell publishers’ ~~online~~ digital display advertising advertising
inventory. inventory.
Google integrates its publisher ad server and SSP in its “Ad Manager” product. Google integrates its publisher ad server and SSP in its “Ad Manager” product.88127 Other Other
companies integrate these two pieces of technology as well. Nevertheless, ad servers and SSPs companies integrate these two pieces of technology as well. Nevertheless, ad servers and SSPs
perform separate functions. perform separate functions. ~~While~~ SSPs focus on allowing publishers to SSPs focus on allowing publishers to ~~conveniently~~ sell their sell their
remnant ad spaceremnant ad space, conveniently, whereas ad servers are what ultimately allow an advertiser’s ads to be served to a ad servers are what ultimately allow an advertiser’s ads to be served to a
publisher’s website.publisher’s website.89128
SSPs that act in publishers’ interests connect the publishers to multiple exchanges, allowing a SSPs that act in publishers’ interests connect the publishers to multiple exchanges, allowing a
range of potential buyers to purchase advertising space. As described in range of potential buyers to purchase advertising space. As described in “U.S. Allegations Regarding
Google’s Conduct,” ” the state attorneys general contend that by preventing publishers from doing the state attorneys general contend that by preventing publishers from doing
this, Google enabled its Ad Manager product to prioritize its own interests over those of this, Google enabled its Ad Manager product to prioritize its own interests over those of
publishers.publishers.129
A A demand -side platform (DSP) is a piece of software used by advertisers (or their agencies) to is a piece of software used by advertisers (or their agencies) to
buy buy ~~online~~digital display advertising inventory in an automated fashion. DSPs allow advertisers to buy advertising inventory in an automated fashion. DSPs allow advertisers to buy
impressions targeted to specific users across a range of publisher sites, via multiple exchanges.impressions targeted to specific users across a range of publisher sites, via multiple exchanges.90130
DSPs acting in advertisers’ interests enable them to buy a wide range DSPs acting in advertisers’ interests enable them to buy a wide range of ad inventory at the lowest ad inventory at the lowest
possible price.possible price.91131 Similarly to SSPs, many DSPs integrate advertiser ad server functions. Similarly to SSPs, many DSPs integrate advertiser ad server functions.92132
An An ad network is an aggregator that purchases is an aggregator that purchases display and mobile ad inventory from smaller publishers and then ad inventory from smaller publishers and then
resells it to advertisers.resells it to advertisers.93133 The network enables advertisers to reach users across many publishing The network enables advertisers to reach users across many publishing
sites (e.g., local newspapers’ sites) that are not sites (e.g., local newspapers’ sites) that are not ~~sufficiently large~~ large enough to trade their inventory in an to trade their inventory in an
exchange. Examples of ad networks featuring newspapers include the USA TODAY Network, a exchange. Examples of ad networks featuring newspapers include the USA TODAY Network, a
joint venture of Gannett and McClatchy,joint venture of Gannett and McClatchy,94134 and Zeus Prime, which includes and Zeus Prime, which includes newspaper websites ~~newspaper websites~~

~~86 “Ad Servers vs. DSPs, SSPs, DMPs & CDPS: Differences Clarified,” General (blog), AdButler, March 31, 2021, at~~
~~https://www.adbutler.com/blog/article/ad-servers-vs-dsp-vs-ssp-vs-dmp-vs-cdp-vs-crm (March 2021 AdButler blog).~~
~~87 Jack Marshall, “WTF Is an ad exchange?,” Digiday, January 30, 2014, at https://digiday.com/media/what-is-an-ad-~~
~~exchange/.~~
~~88 December 2020 ACCC Interim Report, p. 168.~~
~~89 March 2021 AdButler blog.~~
~~90 “What the Tech Are DSPs, SSPs, and DMPs?,” Data-Driven 101 (blog), The TradeDesk. March 30, 2021, at~~
~~https://www.thetradedesk.com/us/news/what-the-tech-are-dsps-ssps-and-dmps.~~
~~91 December 2020 ACCC Interim Report, p. 15.~~
~~92 March 2021 AdButler blog.~~
~~93 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, ¶65.~~
~~94 USA TODAY Network, “Gannett and McClatchy Collaborate to Offer Local Reach for National Advertisers,” press~~
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owned by the owned by the Washington Post, the , the Dallas Morning News, Tribune Publishing, MediaNews , Tribune Publishing, MediaNews
Group, and McClatchy.Group, and McClatchy.95135 Google operates its own network, called Google Display Network, Google operates its own network, called Google Display Network,
which is composed of Google properties such as YouTube, Gmail, and millions of third-party which is composed of Google properties such as YouTube, Gmail, and millions of third-party
publisher sites.publisher sites.96136 AdMob is Google’s mobile ad network for apps. AdMob is Google’s mobile ad network for apps.97
~~Allegations Regarding Google’s Conduct~~
~~In 2021, attorneys general from 16 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, led by Texas~~
~~Attorney General Ken Paxton, filed suit against Google LLC, alleging the company’s conduct in~~
~~the advertising technology stack violated antitrust laws.98 In August 2021, the Judicial Panel on~~
~~Multidistrict Litigation consolidated 20 display advertising monopoly suits against Google,~~
~~including the Texas-led case and several from newspaper publishers and advertisers, for pretrial~~
~~purposes.99 In January 2022, Google filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that (1) the~~
~~regulators are attempting to stifle market forces, and (2) the regulators waited too long to file~~
~~suit.100~~
~~According to the lawsuit, prior to Google’s entrance into the publisher “ad server”/SSP market,101~~
~~ad servers neutrally routed publishers’ ad inventory to different competing exchanges.102 The~~
~~lawsuit asserts that Google’s conduct substantially changed the ad server market. One year after~~
~~Google entered the advertising technology industry in 2008 with its purchase of DoubleClick, an~~
~~online advertising company, the company introduced a new system called Dynamic Allocation to~~
~~change the way ad servers sold inventory on behalf of publishers’ websites.103~~
~~Before Google introduced Dynamic Allocation, newspaper publishers sold their ad inventory via~~
~~a “waterfall” process conducted on their ad servers.104 If an ad impression was available, the~~

137 127 December 2020 ACCC Interim Report, p. 168. 128 March 2021 AdButler blog. 129 Third Amended Complaint, State of Texas, et al. v. Google LLC, No. 1:21-md-03010-PKC (S.D. NY January 14, 2022), pp. 96-97 (Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint). 130 “What the Tech Are DSPs, SSPs, and DMPs?,” Data-Driven 101 (blog), The TradeDesk, March 30, 2021, at https://www.thecurrent.com/what-the-tech-are-dsps-ssps-and-dmps. 131 December 2020 ACCC Interim Report, p. 15. 132 March 2021 AdButler blog. 133 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, p. 35. 134 USA TODAY Network, “Gannett and McClatchy Collaborate to Offer Local Reach for National Advertisers,” press release, February 16, 2021, at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/pr/2021/02/16/gannett-and-mcclatchy-collaborate-release, February 16, 2021, at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/pr/2021/02/16/gannett-and-mcclatchy-collaborate-
offer-local-reach-national-advertisers/6743048002/. offer-local-reach-national-advertisers/6743048002/.
95135 Max Willens, “They’re Solving a Problem: The Washington Post Readies Its Zeus Platform for the Buy Side,” Max Willens, “They’re Solving a Problem: The Washington Post Readies Its Zeus Platform for the Buy Side,”
Digiday, March 8, 2021, at https://digiday.com/media/theyre-solving-a-problem-the-washington-post-readies-its-zeus-, March 8, 2021, at https://digiday.com/media/theyre-solving-a-problem-the-washington-post-readies-its-zeus-
platform-for-the-buy-side/. platform-for-the-buy-side/.
96136 Google, Google Ads Help, “Google Display Network and YouTube on computers, mobile devices, and tablets,” at Google, Google Ads Help, “Google Display Network and YouTube on computers, mobile devices, and tablets,” at
https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2740623?hl=en. https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2740623?hl=en.
97137 Google, Google AdMob, “Earn more revenue with your apps,” at https://admob.google.com/home/?gclid= Google, Google AdMob, “Earn more revenue with your apps,” at https://admob.google.com/home/?gclid=
EAIaIQobChMImOXXlOuq9QIVVuHICh0xQw5WEAAYASAAEgLDHPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds. EAIaIQobChMImOXXlOuq9QIVVuHICh0xQw5WEAAYASAAEgLDHPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds.
~~98 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint. As of January 2022, the states represented include the~~
~~following: Texas, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North~~
~~Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah.~~
~~99 The consolidated case is In Re: Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation, no. 1:21-cv-0703 (S.D.N.Y.).~~
~~Matthew Perlman, “State AGs Update Google Display Monopoly Case,” Law 360, November 15, 2021.~~
~~100 Defendant Google LLC’s Memorandum of Law in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss Counts I Through IV of State~~
~~Plaintiffs’ Third Amended Complaint, State of Texas, et al. v. Google LLC, No. 21-CV-6841 (S.D.N.Y. January 21,~~
~~2022).~~
~~101 Because Google integrates its ad server and SSP services, the terms “ad server” and “ad server market” in this~~
~~lawsuit include SSPs as well.~~
~~102 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, ¶56.~~
~~103 December 2020 ACCC Interim Report, pp. 19-20. See also Louise Story and Miguel Helft, “Google Buys~~
~~DoubleClick for $4.1 Billion,” New York Times, April 14, 2007, at https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/14/technology/~~
~~14DoubleClick.html. (“For months, Google has been trying to expand its foothold in online advertising into display~~
~~ads, the area where DoubleClick is strongest. Google made its name and still generates most of its revenue from search~~
~~and contextual text ads.”)~~
~~104 August 2021 ACCC Final Report, pp. 105-106.~~
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~~publisher’s ad server would first check to see whether there were any direct programmatic deals~~
~~in place that needed to be fulfilled. If there were no direct programmatic deals or if they had~~
~~already been fulfilled, the publisher’s ad server would then offer the ad impression to SSPs, one~~
~~at a time, in a set order determined by the publisher. Publishers set the order of SSPs based on~~
~~what they estimated each SSP would bid (based on its historical bids). The publisher ad server~~
~~would then call each SSP in sequence, with each having the ability to submit a real-time bid for~~
~~the ad impression. This process would continue until an SSP purchased the ad impression~~
~~(generally when an SSP submitted a bid higher than the price floor set by the publisher) or no~~
~~SSPs were left to bid.~~
~~Under Dynamic Allocation, in contrast, Google’s publisher ad server would take the publishers’~~
~~estimated bids before each SSP received the bids, and set the highest estimated bid as a price~~
~~floor. According to one trade publication, “dynamic allocation had been a way for Google to offer~~
~~advertisers on its exchange a way to swoop into auctions for ad space and buy the best inventory~~
~~if they could beat the going market rate.”105~~
~~As long as Google’s SSP was willing to bid $0.01 per thousand impressions higher than the~~
~~publisher’s price floor, it could win the auction, even if competing SSPs were willing to bid~~
~~substantially more. This practice enabled Google to divert transactions that might otherwise have~~
~~been executed via its rivals’ advertising technology products, thereby both increasing its market~~
~~share and reducing publishers’ revenues.106~~
~~Response to Competition from Header Bidding~~
~~In response, in 2015, many publishers began to adopt an alternative system of conducting~~
~~auctions, called “header bidding.” The term comes from the practice of publishers (either~~
~~internally or via an intermediary)107 inserting JavaScript in advertising “headers” at the tops of~~
~~their web pages.108~~
~~With this system, publishers can simultaneously offer inventory to multiple exchanges and then~~
~~sell to the highest bidder.109 After adopting header bidding, the attorneys general lawsuit asserts,~~
~~some publishers’ revenues increased by 40%.110 Header bidding enabled publishers to bypass~~
~~Google’s ad exchange, thereby enabling them to forgo paying fees to Google. It also decreased~~
~~the data available to Google via its various roles in the ad tech stack.111~~

~~105 Garett Sloane, “WTF is dynamic allocation?,” Digiday, April 14, 2016, at https://digiday.com/media/wtf-dynamic-~~
~~allocation-google-ad-auctions/.~~
~~106 Ibid.~~
~~107 Marcin Ekiert, CEO and CoFounder, Yieldbird, “To Outsource, or to Opt for InHouse? Key Questions Regarding~~
~~Header Building,” Ad Tech (blog), Yieldbird, August 25, 2020, at https://yieldbird.com/to-outsource-or-~~
~~to-opt-for-in-house-key-questions-regarding-header-bidding/.~~
~~108 Kate Shokurova, “Website Header Design in 2020: Best Practices and Examples,” UX Planet, February 10, 2020, at~~
~~https://uxplanet.org/website-header-design-in-2020-best-practices-and-examples-1992f80ddd69.~~
~~109 Ross Benes, “An Ad Tech Urban Legend: An Oral History of How Header Bidding Became Digital Advertising’s~~
~~Biggest Buzzword,” Digiday, June 16, 2017, at https://digiday.com/media/header-bidding-oral-history/.~~
~~110 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, ¶358.~~
~~111 Seb Joseph, “Ad Execs Dismayed, but Not Surprised by Tactics Google Allegedly Used to Control Ad Dollars,”~~
Digiday, October 21, 2021, at https://digiday.com/marketing/ad-execs-dismayed-but-not-surprised-by-new-alleged-
~~actions-against-google-to-curtail-digital-ad-revenue/.~~
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~~Nevertheless, header bidding poses challenges for publishers. For example, the addition of extra~~
~~code on their web pages can slow down the time for them to load, thereby detracting from~~
~~consumers’ experiences.~~
~~Google chose not to participate in header bidding. Google contends that its decision was “not~~
~~surprising given header bidding’s potential for adverse effects on users, advertisers and the~~
~~ecosystem, and the fact that Google already had an efficient auction mechanism with Dynamic~~
~~Allocation and [its SSP/ad exchange, then known as AdX], in which many different Google-~~
~~owned and third-party ad buyers competed.”112~~
~~In their lawsuit, however, the state attorneys general contend, “Based on a review of Google’s~~
~~internal documents, Google wanted to quash header bidding innovation for three reasons: (1) to~~
~~maintain its publisher ad serving monopoly; (2) to continue using its control of publishers’ ad~~
~~server to preference its exchange and buying tools; and (3) to avoid price competition in the~~
~~exchange market.”113~~
~~They further claim that Google “punish[ed]” publishers who attempted to use header bidding by~~
~~placing them in a lower position in its search engine results, thereby cutting off an important~~
~~source of visitor traffic.114 As described in “Google: Alleged Monopolization of Search Engine,”~~
~~the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has alleged that Google has engaged in anticompetitive~~
~~behavior to monopolize the search engine market.~~
~~Google’s Introduction and Promotion of Open Exchange~~
~~Google introduced its own proprietary version of server-side header bidding, now known as~~
~~“Open Exchange,” and made it available to publishers in April 2018. According to the United~~
~~Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority, Google’s internal documents indicate that its~~
~~major motivation was to protect the company’s revenues from the impact of header bidding.115~~
~~In their lawsuit, the state attorneys general allege, quoting documents from Google, that~~
~~“although Google executives once considered ‘creating a completely neutral platform like the~~
~~[New York Stock Exchange],’ they instead chose to ‘stack the deck in favor of Google [demand]’~~
~~by using control of [Open Exchange] to give preferred access to their own buying tools.”116~~
~~In addition, the state attorneys general claim that “Google unlawfully excluded competition from~~
~~header bidding by getting its largest Big Tech rival, Facebook,117 to stop supporting the~~
~~technology” via an agreement dated September 2018 that violated antitrust laws.118 They state~~
~~The principal impetus for this deal began many months before, in March 2017, when~~
~~Facebook publicly announced it would support header bidding. By doing so, Facebook~~
~~would enable web and mobile app publishers and advertisers to bypass the fees associated~~

~~112 Bitton and Lewis, p. 19.~~
~~113 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, ¶361.~~
~~114 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, ¶¶375, 408.~~
~~115 July 2020 CMA Report, Appendix M, pp. M10-M11.~~
~~116 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, ¶77.~~
~~117 eMarketer estimates that in 2020, Facebook’s share of total online advertising in the United States (including all~~
~~formats) was 25.2%, Google’s was 28.9%, and Amazon’s was 10.3%. “U.S. Triopoly Digital Ad Revenue Share by~~
~~Company, 2019 & 2020,” eMarketer, March 2021, at https://www.emarketer.com/chart/245872/us-triopoly-digital-ad-~~
~~revenue-share-by-company-2019-2020-of-total-digital-ad-spending.~~
~~118 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, ¶¶ 413-450. They allege that Google and Facebook~~
~~CEOs Sundar Pichai and Mark Zuckerberg, respectively, personally approved this agreement. Ibid., ¶¶423-424.~~
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~~with transacting through Google’s ad server. Because header bidding cost nothing,~~
~~Facebook’s use of header bidding would let web publishers, mobile app publishers, and~~
~~advertisers save on these fees altogether.119~~
~~Because of the September 2018 agreement, the state attorneys general claim that “Google [gave]~~
~~Facebook a leg up in its auctions in return for Facebook backing off from header bidding.”120 In~~
~~September 2021, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal, as well as Representatives~~
~~Pramila Jayapal and Mondaire Jones, called on DOJ to investigate whether Google and~~
~~Facebook’s agreement violated Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act [15 U.S.C. §1].121 This~~
~~section criminalizes “mak[ing] any contract … in restraint of trade or commerce.”~~
~~In April 2021, publishers of 125 newspapers in 11 states filed or announced lawsuits against both~~
~~Google and Facebook, calling this arrangement between the two companies “an illegal secretive~~
~~deal” that “unlawfully monopolized the digital advertising market.”122 As of December 2021, the~~
~~number of newspapers owned by publishers suing Google and Facebook has grown to 200.123~~
~~In a blog post, Google disputed the state attorneys generals’ allegations regarding its motivations~~
~~for launching Open Bidding and entering into an agreement with Facebook.124 According to~~
~~Google~~
~~Open Bidding provides publishers access to demand from dozens of networks and~~
~~exchanges. This helps increase demand for publisher inventory and competition for ad~~
~~space, which enables publishers to drive more revenue.... [Texas] AG [Ken] Paxton~~
~~inaccurately claims that we manipulate the Open Bidding auction in [Facebook’s] favor.~~
~~We absolutely don’t.... And AG Paxton’s claims about how much we charge other Open~~
~~Bidding partners are mistaken—our standard revenue share for Open Bidding is 5-10~~
~~percent.~~
~~Google states that Open Bidding offers many features for publishers, including simplicity, ease of~~
~~use, and measures to protect users’ privacy.125~~
~~Additional Allegations~~
~~The attorneys general further allege that Google had secretly manipulated the outcome of~~
~~programmatic auctions for its own benefit.126 For example, in a program named Project Bernanke,~~
~~after former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, Google allegedly used information~~
~~from past auction bids in its advertising exchange to give its own DSPs and ad exchanges~~

~~119 Ibid., ¶414.~~
~~120 Ibid., ¶¶427-436.~~
~~121 Letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Representative Pramila Jayapal, and~~
~~Representative Mondaire Jones to The Honorable Merrick Garland, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, and~~
~~The Honorable Nicholas Ganjei, Acting U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Department of Justice,~~
~~September 1, 2021, at https://www.warren.senate.gov/download/20210830-letter-re-jedi-blue.~~
~~122 Fitzimmons Law Firm, PLLC, “Wave of Newspapers Sue Google and Facebook,” press release, April 20, 2021, at~~
~~https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/wave-of-newspaper-publishers-sue-google-and-facebook,191224.~~
~~123 Sara Fischer, Kristal Dixon, “Scoop: Over 200 Papers Quietly Sue Big Tech,” Axios, December 7, 2021, at~~
~~https://www.axios.com/1-local-newspapers-lawsuits-facebook-google-3c3dee3a-cce3-49ef-b0a2-7a98c2e15c91.html.~~
~~124 Andy Cohen, Director, Economic Policy, Google. “AG Paxton’s Misleading Attacks on Our Ad Tech Business,”~~
~~January 21, 2021, at https://blog.google/products/admanager/news-publishers-make-money-~~
~~ad-manager/.~~
~~125 Bitton and Lewis, p. 20.~~
~~126 Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, ¶¶297-351.~~
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~~advantages over competitors.127 By ensuring that its ad tech tools processed the winning bid,~~
~~Google received the transactions for its ad exchange and its DSP.128~~
~~Alleged Effects of Google’s Role in Advertising Technology Stack on~~
~~Newspaper Publishers~~
~~Authorities in several jurisdictions have alleged or are investigating allegations that Google has~~
~~leveraged market power in the advertising technology stack to thwart competition.~~
~~The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority estimated that large publishers using~~
~~Google’s ad server Ad Manager retain, on average, 70%-80% of advertising revenue received by~~
~~Google, whereas small publishers using Google’s ad server AdSense for Content retain, on~~
~~average, 60%-70% “of the revenues earned by Google from advertisers.”129 The authority’s July~~
~~2020 report stated, “In acting simultaneously on behalf of publishers and advertisers, Google~~
~~faces strong conflicts of interest. It has been able to leverage the market power from its owned-~~
~~and-operated advertising inventory [e.g., on YouTube] into the open display market and within~~
~~the ad tech stack, making it harder for third-party intermediaries to compete.”130~~
~~The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, in its December 2020 interim report,~~
~~stated that it had “received submissions during the course of the Inquiry alleging that Google’s~~
~~position across the [advertising technology stack] may have allowed Google to engage in conduct~~
~~which has limited competition in the supply of ad tech services.”131~~
~~In June 2021, France’s Autorité de la concurrence, following referrals from several newspaper~~
~~publishers, issued a decision~~
~~sanctioning Google, up to 220 million euros, for having abused its dominant position in the~~
~~advertising server market for website and mobile applications publishers…. [T]he press~~
~~groups—including those who were at the origin of the referral to the Autorité—were~~
~~affected even though their economic model is also strongly weakened by the decline in~~
~~sales of print subscriptions and the decline in associated advertising revenue.132~~
~~Also in June 2021, the European Union’s European Commission~~
~~opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Google has violated [European~~
~~Union] competition rules by favouring its own online display advertising technology~~
~~services in the so called “ad tech” [stack], to the detriment of competing providers of~~
~~advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers. The formal~~
~~investigation will notably examine whether Google is distorting competition by restricting~~

~~127 Jeff Horwitz and Keach Hagey, “Google’s Secret ‘Project Bernanke’ Revealed in Texas Antitrust Case,”~~ ~~Wall Street~~
~~Journal, April 11, 2021, at https://www.wsj.com/articles/googles-secret-project-bernanke-revealed-in-texas-antitrust-~~
~~case-11618097760.~~
~~128 Seb Joseph, “Ad Execs Dismayed, but Not Surprised by Tactics Google Allegedly Used to Control Ad Dollars,”~~
Digiday, October 21, 2021, at https://digiday.com/marketing/ad-execs-dismayed-but-not-surprised-by-new-alleged-
~~actions-against-google-to-curtail-digital-ad-revenue/.~~
~~129 July 2020 CMA Report, Appendix R, p. R14.~~
~~130 Ibid., p. 211.~~
~~131 December 2020 ACCC Interim Report, p. 15.~~
~~132 Autorité de la concurrence, “Le Autorité de la Concurrence Hands out a €220 Million Fine to Google for Favoring~~
~~Its Own Services in the Online Advertising Sector,” press release, June 7, 2021, at~~
~~https://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/en/press-release/autorite-de-la-concurrence-hands-out-eu220-millions-fine-~~
~~google-favouring-its-own.~~
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~~access by third parties to user data for advertising purposes on websites and apps, while~~
~~reserving such data for its own use.133~~
~~In their complaint, the state attorneys general allege, “Google’s conduct unlawfully forecloses~~
~~competition in the markets for (1) publisher ad servers, (2) ad exchanges, (3) in-app networks, (4)~~
~~ad buying tools for large advertisers, and (5) ad buying tools for small advertisers.”134~~
~~Additional Antitrust Lawsuits in the United States~~
~~Additional antitrust lawsuits, while less directly related to newspaper publishers, concern alleged~~
~~conduct that could affect publishers’ ability to maximize revenues from licensing and~~
~~subscriptions.~~
~~Facebook: Alleged Monopolization of Social Media~~
~~In August 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an amended complaint against Meta~~
~~Platforms alleging that its Facebook subsidiary had unlawfully sought to suppress competition to~~
~~its social networking service by acquiring potential rivals such as the messaging platform~~
~~WhatsApp and image-sharing app Instagram.135 In addition, the FTC asserts, Facebook~~
~~conditioned app developers’ access to its platform on the developers’ agreement to refrain from~~
~~competing with Facebook’s core services and from facilitating the growth of potential rivals to~~
~~Facebook.136 The FTC requests that the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, among~~
~~other actions, require Facebook to divest assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp, in order to~~
~~promote competition among personal social networking platforms.~~
~~Increased competition for Facebook could potentially decrease the relative bargaining power of~~
~~Facebook vis-à-vis newspaper publishers.~~
~~Apple and Google: App Stores Policies~~
~~Apple and Google generally require that they be enabled by app developers to handle all~~
~~payments for apps sold in Apple and Google’s respective app stores.137 Typically, for~~
~~subscription-based apps, Apple collects a standard 30% commission during the first year on its~~
~~App Store, and a 15% commission thereafter.138 In some instances, Apple makes exceptions to~~
~~this policy. In November 2020, Apple announced that beginning in January 2021, small~~
~~businesses generating up to $1 million per year in revenues would need to pay only a 15%~~

~~133 European Commission, “Antitrust: Commission Opens Investigation into Possible Anticompetitive Conduct by~~
~~Google in the Online Advertising Technology Sector,” press release, June 22, 2021, at https://ec.europa.eu/~~
~~commission/presscorner/detail/hu/ip_21_3143.~~
~~134 Texas, et al. v. Google, November 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, ¶244.~~
~~135 First Amended Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief ¶¶2, 6-7 FTC v. Facebook, No. 1:20-cv-03590~~
~~(D.D.C. August 19, 2021). The FTC filed an amended complaint after a federal judge dismissed the agency’s original~~
~~lawsuit in June 2021, finding that the agency failed to sufficiently support its allegation that Facebook engaged in~~
~~lawful monopolization of the personal social networking market was insufficient. FTC v. Facebook, Inc., No. 20-3590,~~
~~2021 (D.D.C. June 28, 2021).~~
~~136 First Amended Complaint, for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief ¶8.~~
~~137 Jack Nicas, Kellen Browning, and Erin Griffin, “Fortnite Creator Sues Apple and Google After Ban from App~~
~~Stores,” New York Times, August 13, 2020.~~
~~138 Sarah Perez, “Apple Lowers Commission on In-App Purchases for news Publishers Who Participate in Apple~~
~~News,” TechCrunch, August 26, 2021, at https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/26/apple-lowers-commissions-on-in-app-~~
~~purchases-for-news-publishers-who-participate-in-apple-news/.~~
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~~commission in the first year as well.139 In March 2021, Google announced that it would follow~~
~~suit beginning in July 2021.140 In September 2021, Apple announced that it would reduce the~~
~~initial year rate to 15% for news publishers that participate in the Apple News app and meet~~
~~certain requirements.141 In October 2021, Google announced that it would decrease the~~
~~commission for all subscriptions sold through the Google Play app store beginning on January 1,~~
~~2022.142~~
~~In August 2020, after Epic Games, the company that produces the video game Fortnite,~~
~~encouraged mobile-app users to pay it directly rather than through Apple’s and Google’e app~~
~~stores, both Apple and Google removed the Fortnite app from their stores.143 Epic filed lawsuits~~
~~against both Apple and Google, claiming that the companies engaged in anticompetitive behavior~~
~~with respect to their app store policies.144 In September 2021, a California federal judge ordered~~
~~Apple to permit Epic Games and other app developers to steer customers outside of its app store,~~
~~but permitted Apple to keep other restrictions in place.145 In November 2021, the judge directed~~
~~Apple to end its anti-steering rules by December 9, 2021, even as Apple appeals the September~~
~~2021 decision.146~~
~~In July 2021, attorneys general from 36 states and Washington, DC, also filed an antitrust~~
~~complaint against Google. The complaint alleges that Google effectively forced Android users~~
~~and application developers to use its app store while collecting an “extravagant commission” rate~~
~~of 30% of the price that consumers pay to purchase subscriptions within Google Play Store.”147~~
~~Google and the parties suing it for allegedly monopolizing its Android Play store have agreed to a~~
~~January 2023 trial.148~~
~~If the courts were to rule against Google and Apple in these cases, these platforms might have to~~
~~lower the commissions they charge owners of apps, including newspaper publishers. In addition,~~

~~139 Sarah Perez, “Apple Dropping App Store Fees to 15% for Small Businesses with Under $1 Million in Revenues,”~~
TechCrunch, November 18, 2020, at https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/18/apple-to-reduce-app-store-fees-for-small-
~~businesses-with-under-1-million-in-revenues/.~~
~~140 Sameer Samat, VP, Product Management, Android and Google, “Boosting Developer Success on Google Play,”~~
~~Android Developers Blog, March 16, 2021, at https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2021/03/boosting-dev-~~
~~success.html.~~
~~141 Apple Inc., “Apple Introduces the News Parnter Program,” press release, August 26, 2021, at~~
~~https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/08/apple-introduces-the-news-partner-program/. One year prior to Apple’s~~
~~announcement, a trade group representing newspaper publishers sent a letter to Apple requesting information about~~
~~how to qualify for more favorable terms regarding distribution in the app store. Letter from Jason Kint, CEO, Digital~~
~~Content Next, to Tim Cook, CEO, Apple, August 20, 2020, at https://digitalcontentnext.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/~~
~~08/DCN-Letter-to-Apple-final.pdf.~~
~~142 Sameer Samat, VP, Product Management, Android and Google, “Evolving Our Business Model to Address~~
~~Developer Needs,” Android Developers Blog, October 21, 2021, at https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2021/~~
~~10/evolving-business-model.html.~~
~~143 Jack Nicas, Kellen Browning and Erin Griffin, “Fortnite Creator Sues Apple and Google After Ban from App~~
~~Stores,” New York Times, August 13, 2020.~~
~~144 Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 3:20-cv-05640 (N.D. Cal. August 17,~~
~~2020); Complaint for Injunctive Relief, Epic Games, Inc. v. Google LLC et al., No. 5:20-cv-05671 (N.D. Cal August~~
~~13, 2020).~~
~~145 Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 4:20-cv-05640-YGR, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 172303 (N.D. Cal. September 10,~~
~~2021).~~
~~146 Epic Games v. Apple Inc., No. 4:20-cv-05640-YGR, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 220266 (N.D. Cal. November 9, 2021).~~
~~147 Complaint ¶¶3-4, State of Utah, et al. v. Google et al., No. 3:21-cv-05227 (N.D. Cal. July 7, 2021).~~
~~148 Joint Statement re: Case Schedule and Trial Structure, Google Play Store Antitrust Litigation, No. 3:21-md-02981-~~
~~JD, January 14, 2022.~~
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~~a ruling against Google and Apple that would enable people to download apps outside of the~~
~~companies’ stores would enable publishers to collect directly from subscribers/readers. The~~
~~improved data could in turn enable publishers to charge advertisers higher rates for the ability to~~
~~more precisely target subscribers/readers in online advertisements.149~~
~~Google: Alleged Monopolization of Search Engine~~
~~In October 2020, DOJ, along with 11 state attorneys general, filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against~~
~~Google in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia “to stop Google from unlawfully~~
~~maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and~~
~~search advertising markets and to remedy the competitive harms.”150 This lawsuit was supported~~
~~by the News Media Alliance, a trade organization representing newspaper publishers, which has~~
~~charged that Google has increasingly used its search function to direct users to its own websites~~
~~rather than those of publishers.151~~
~~Potential Legislative Actions~~
~~Bills introduced in the 117th Congress to support newspaper publishers and journalists fall into~~
~~two main categories: some would amend antitrust laws in ways that might benefit newspaper~~
~~publishers, while others would support newspaper publishers with grant funding and tax~~
~~breaks.152 Selected examples are discussed below.~~
~~Amending Antitrust Laws~~
~~The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2021 (H.R. 1735; S. 673) would provide an~~
~~antitrust exemption for news content creators in negotiations with online content distributors for~~
~~four years.153 Sponsors of the bill stated that it is intended to support local newspapers and to~~
~~increase the diversity of news publishers.154 However, some Members have raised concern about~~
~~the definition of “news content creators” and potential unintended effects of the bill.155~~

~~149 Rob Williams, “App Store Law Would Give Publishers More Flexibility” (commentary), MediaPost, August 13,~~
~~2021, at https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/365939/app-store-law-would-give-publishers-more-~~
~~flexibili.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=123329&hashid=~~
~~XNjiNboFTaeCo257joHIYw.~~
~~150 U.S. Department of Justice, “Justice Department Sues Monopolist Google for Violating Antitrust Laws,” press~~
~~release, October 20, 2020, at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-monopolist-google-violating-~~
~~antitrust-laws.~~
~~151 News Media Alliance,~~ ~~How Google Abuses Its Position as a Market Dominant Platform to Strong-Arm News~~
~~Publishers and Hurt Journalism, Arlington, VA, June 2020, p. 2, at http://www.newsmediaalliance.org/wp-content/~~
~~uploads/2020/06/Final-Alliance-White-Paper-June-18-2020.pdf.~~
~~152 Other bills have been introduced that would affect journalists, which this report does not discuss. For example, the~~
~~Journalist Protection Act (S. 2528; H.R. 4857) would implement penalties for assaulting journalists, and the Press Act~~
~~(S. 2457; H.R. 4330) would not allow a federal entity to compel a journalist or covered service provider to disclose~~
~~protected information without a court-issued subpoena or other compulsory process.~~
~~153 A similar bill (H.R. 2054) was previously introduced in the 116th Congress.~~
~~154 “Senator Klobuchar and Representative Cicilline Introduce Legislation to Protect Journalism in the United States,”~~
Senator Amy Klobuchar News Release, March 10, 2021, at https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2021/
~~3/senator-klobuchar-and-representative-cicilline-introduce-legislation-to-protect-journalism-in-the-united-states.~~
~~155 House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, “Reviving Competition, Part 2: Saving~~
~~the Free and Diverse Press,” March 12, 2021, at https://docs.house.gov/Committee/Calendar/ByEvent.aspx?EventID=~~
~~111315.~~
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~~The effect of the bill on the newspaper industry would depend on how publishers would respond~~
~~to the antitrust exemption. For example, if large newspaper publishers group together to negotiate~~
~~with online content distributors, concentration could increase among newspapers, furthering the~~
~~decline of local newspapers. However, if large newspaper publishers join small ones to negotiate~~
~~with online content distributors, smaller newspaper publishers may be able to improve their~~
~~bargaining power and obtain greater revenue from these online platforms.~~
~~Other bills amending antitrust laws introduced in the 117th Congress may also affect newspapers.~~
~~For example, the Ending Platform Monopolies Act (H.R. 3825) would make it unlawful for a~~
~~covered platform156 to own or control other lines of business that create the incentive and ability~~
~~for the covered platform to advantage its own business or exclude potential competitors. This bill~~
~~could affect some online platforms, such as news aggregators that publish original content,~~
~~depending on the criteria used to determine lines of business. The bill might also increase the~~
~~bargaining power of newspaper publishers, depending on the changes online platforms are~~
~~required to implement.157~~
~~Grants and Tax Breaks~~
~~Grant Funding~~
~~The 21st Century Federal Writers’ Project Act (H.R. 3054) would create a grant program~~
~~administered by the U.S. Department of Labor for eligible entities to support individuals who are~~
~~unemployed or underemployed in order to document in writing and images American society and~~
~~the broad impacts and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Eligible entities~~
~~would include, among others, nonprofit and for-profit newsrooms. The bill would authorize~~
~~appropriations of $60 million for FY2022 for the program.~~
~~Tax Breaks for News Publishers, Advertisers, and Subscribers~~
~~The Local Journalism Sustainability Act (H.R. 3940; S. 2434) would allow individual and~~
Congressional Research Service 22 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age U.S. Allegations Regarding Google’s Conduct In 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and attorneys general from 17 states filed a civil antitrust suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Google.138 The suit alleges that the company engaged in monopolization of markets and unlawful tying of several online advertising technology products in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (Sherman Act).139 Section 1 of the Sherman Act (26 Stat. 209, Ch. 647) prohibits contracts or conspiracies in restraint of trade or commerce; Section 2 prohibits monopolization or attempted monopolization.140 According to DOJ, “[a]s a result of its illegal monopoly, and by its own estimates, Google pockets on average more than 30% of the advertising dollars that flow through its digital advertising technology products; for some transactions and for certain publishers and advertisers, it takes far more.”141 Likewise, in 2021, attorneys general from 16 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, filed suit against Google LLC, alleging the company’s conduct in the advertising technology stack violated antitrust laws.142 In January 2022, Google filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that (1) the regulators failed to plausibly allege anticompetitive conduct, and (2) the regulators waited too long to file suit.143 In September 2022, U.S. District Court Judge P. Kevin Castel issued an opinion and order finding that several of the states’ allegations against Google were plausible and permitting their lawsuit to go forward. Specifically, Judge Castel found that the state plausibly alleged that Google violated the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. §§1-2) by, among other actions, engaging in anticompetitive conduct to 138 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), “Nine Additional States Joining Justice Department’s Suit Against Google for Monopolizing Digital Advertising Technologies,” press release, April 17, 2023, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nine-additional-states-join-justice-department-s-suit-against-google-monopolizing-digital. As of April 2023, the 17 states joining the United States in filing the complaint are Arizona, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Washington, West Virginia, Virginia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. Ibid.: Complaint, United States, et al. v. Google LLC, No. 1:23-cv-00108 (E.D. Va. January 24, 2023) (U.S., et al. v. Google, January 2023 Complaint) (DOJ January 2023 Complaint.) For additional information about this lawsuit, see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10956, The DOJ’s Ad Tech Antitrust Case Against Google: A Brief Overview, by Alexander H. Pepper and Jay B. Sykes. 139 DOJ January 2023 Complaint. 140 15 U.S.C. §§1, 2. 141 DOJ, “Justice Department Sues Google for Monopolizing Digital Advertising Technologies,” press release, January 24, 2023, https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-google-monopolizing-digital-advertising-technologies. 142 Third Amended Complaint, State of Texas, et al. v. Google LLC, No. 1:21-md-03010-PKC (S.D. NY January 14, 2022)(Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint). The unredacted version of the complaint, originally filed in November 2021, became publicly available in January 2022. The 16 states that joined Puerto Rico in filing this suit are Texas, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Utah. The Texas Attorney General, joined by state attorneys general from nine other states, filed the original complaint in December 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Complaint, State of Texas, et al. v. Google LLC, No. 4:20-cv-0957-SDJ (E.D. TX December 16, 2020). 143 Defendant Google LLC’s Memorandum of Law in Support of Its Motion to Dismiss Counts I Through IV of State Plaintiffs’ Third Amended Complaint, State of Texas, et al. v. Google LLC, No. 21-CV-6841 (S.D.N.Y. January 21, 2022). Congressional Research Service 23 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age  willfully acquire or maintain monopoly power in the markets for ad exchanges, publisher ad servers, and demand-side platforms (also called ad-buying tools) for small advertisers (Count I, alleging violation of §2 of the Sherman Act);  attempt to monopolize the markets for ad exchanges, demand-side platforms for small advertisers, and demand-side platforms for large advertisers (Count II, also alleging violation of §2 of the Sherman Act); and  use its market power in the ad exchange market to coerce publishers to use its publisher ad server, thereby unlawfully tying two separate and distinct products (Count III, alleging violations of §1 and §2 of the Sherman Act).144 In March 2023, a federal judge refused to permit Google to transfer DOJ’s case from Virginia to New York, where Google is defending itself against antitrust allegations from Texas, et al. and private plaintiffs.145 DOJ and the states are seeking to convince the courts to require Google to divest its publisher ad server and ad exchange, enjoin the company from engaging in anticompetitive practices, reimburse them for legal fees, and pay fines.146 International Allegations Regarding Google’s Conduct International government authorities have also alleged or are investigating allegations that Google has leveraged market power in the advertising technology stack to thwart competition. The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority estimated that large publishers using Ad Manager (a Google ad server) retain, on average, 70%-80% of advertising revenue received by Google, whereas small publishers using AdSense (another Google ad server) for content retain, on average, 60%-70% “of the revenues earned by Google from advertisers.”147 The authority’s July 2020 report stated, “In acting simultaneously on behalf of publishers and advertisers, Google faces strong conflicts of interest. It has been able to leverage the market power from its owned-and-operated advertising inventory [e.g., on YouTube] into the open display market and within the ad tech stack, making it harder for third-party intermediaries to compete.”148 The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, in its August 2021 final report, stated Google has engaged in conduct which has had the cumulative effect of restricting or limiting the ability of its rivals to compete in the supply of ad tech services. Google has also engaged in conduct in the supply of ad tech services that promotes its own interests ahead of the parties it serves (advertisers and publishers). Google has been able to do this given its dominance in key parts of the ad tech supply chain, and its control of key services.”149 144 Google Digit. Advert. Antitrust Litig., No. 21-md-3010 (PKC), (S.D.N.Y. Sep. 13, 2022). The judge dismissed a fourth count, in which the states alleged that Google had reached an unlawful agreement with Facebook to thwart competition in the ad exchange market, in violation of Section 1. 145 Brian Koenig, “Google Can’t Transfer DOJ Ad Case from Va. to NY,” Law360, March 10, 2023. 146 DOJ January 2023 Complaint, pp. 139-140. Texas, et al. v. Google, January 2022 3rd Amended Complaint, pp. 208-216. 147 July 2020 CMA Report, Appendix R, p. R14. 148 Ibid., p. 211. 149ACCC, Digital Advertising Services Inquiry: Final Report, August 2021, p. 132, at https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Digital%20advertising%20services%20inquiry%20-%20final%20report.pdf. Congressional Research Service 24 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age In June 2021, France’s Autorité de la concurrence, following referrals from several newspaper publishers, issued a decision sanctioning Google, up to 220 million euros, for having abused its dominant position in the advertising server market for website and mobile applications publishers…. [T]he press groups—including those who were at the origin of the referral to the Autorité—were affected even though their economic model is also strongly weakened by the decline in sales of print subscriptions and the decline in associated advertising revenue.150 Also in June 2021, the European Union’s European Commission opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Google has violated [European Union] competition rules by favouring its own online display advertising technology services in the so called “ad tech” [stack], to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology services, advertisers and online publishers. The formal investigation will notably examine whether Google is distorting competition by restricting access by third parties to user data for advertising purposes on websites and apps, while reserving such data for its own use.151 Google’s Response to U.S. Lawsuits Google claims these allegations mischaracterize both its role and the degree of competition in the ad tech market. First, Google states that DOJ and state attorneys general are attempting to reverse U.S. antitrust agencies’ prior approvals of Google’s acquisition of ad tech firms in 2008 and 2011. In addition, Google states that it does not condition publishers’ access to its exchange on their use of its ad server. Third, Google states that competing firms—including Amazon, Comcast, and Microsoft—operate integrated ad tech stacks. Fourth, Google states that it sought to improve upon, rather than shut out, competing technologies. Google also states that its tools “help advertisers bid more efficiently and help publishers make more money.” Finally, Google states, “we don’t have a duty to bid on rival auctions.”152 Additional Antitrust Lawsuits Against Technology Firms Additional antitrust lawsuits do not specifically mention newspaper publishers but may affect their revenue through licensing and subscriptions. This section briefly discusses a selection of these lawsuits. 150 Autorite de la concurrence, “Le Autorite de la Concurrence Hands out a €220 Million Fine to Google for Favoring Its Own Services in the Online Advertising Sector,” press release, June 7, 2021, at https://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/en/communiques-de-presse/autorite-de-la-concurrence-hands-out-eu220-millions-fine-google-favouring-its. 151 European Commission, “Antitrust: Commission Opens Investigation into Possible Anticompetitive Conduct by Google in the Online Advertising Technology Sector,” press release, June 22, 2021, at https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_3143. 152 Dan Taylor, “DOJ’s Lawsuit Ignores the Enormous Competition in the Online Advertising Industry,” Google Blog, January 24, 2023, at https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/doj-ad-tech-lawsuit-response/. Google’s detailed response is available at Setting the record straight about our advertising technology business, at https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod/documents/Setting_the_record_straight_about_our_advertising_technology_business.pdf. Congressional Research Service 25 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age Facebook: Alleged Monopolization of Social Media The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in an ongoing lawsuit, alleges that Meta engaged in anticompetitive conduct to monopolize personal social networking services.153 In January 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied Meta’s motion to dismiss the case and allowed the FTC to continue with its allegation that Facebook maintained monopoly power through Meta’s anticompetitive acquisitions, such as WhatsApp and Instagram.154 One of the remedies proposed by the FTC is requiring Meta to divest its assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp. Increasing competition among personal social networking services might reduce Facebook’s relative bargaining power in negotiations with newspaper publishers, such as if and how much revenue publishers receive. Apple and Google: App Store Policies Apple and Google charge a 30% commission for apps sold on their respective app stores, as well as in-app purchases, if the owner of the app earns more than $1 million in annual revenue; businesses that generate less than $1 million in annual revenue pay a 15% fee.155 For subscription-based apps, Apple collects a 30% commission during the first year on its App Store and a 15% commission thereafter.156 News publishers that participate in the Apple News app and meet certain requirements pay 15% for the first year, rather than 30%, since September 2021.157 Google charges a 15% commission for automatically renewing subscription products, regardless of the revenue earned by the developer, and 15% or less for developers that qualify under certain programs.158 Apple and Google have been engaged in multiple lawsuits for their app store policies. For example, Epic Games—the producer of the video game Fortnite—filed separate lawsuits against Apple and Google, claiming that the companies are monopolists engaging in anticompetitive behavior with their app store policies.159 On September 10, 2021, a federal district court ruled that although Apple had a “considerable market share of over 55% and extraordinarily high profit 153 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed an amended complaint after a federal judge dismissed the agency’s original lawsuit in June 2021. See First Amended Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief FTC v. Facebook, No. 1:20-cv-03590 (D.D.C. August 19, 2021), and FTC v. Facebook, Inc., No. 20-3590, 2021 (D.D.C. June 28, 2021). 154 FTC v. Facebook, 581 F. Supp. 3d 34 (D.D.C. 2022), Court Opinion. 155 Apple, Apple Developer Program License Agreement, February 25, 2022, at https://developer.apple.com/support/downloads/terms/schedules/Schedule-2-and-3-20220225-English.pdf; Apple, “Apple Announces App Store Small Business Program,” press release, November 18, 2020, at https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/11/apple-announces-app-store-small-business-program/; and Google, “Service Fees,” Play Console Help, accessed on May 9, 2023, at https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622?hl=en. 156 Apple, Apple Developer Program License Agreement, February 25, 2022, at https://developer.apple.com/support/downloads/terms/schedules/Schedule-2-and-3-20220225-English.pdf. 157 Apple, “Apple Introduces the News Partner Program,” press release, August 26, 2021, at https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/08/apple-introduces-the-news-partner-program/. 158 Google, “Service Fees,” Play Console Help, accessed on May 9, 2023, at https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/112622?hl=en. 159 Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 4:20-cv-05640 (N.D. Cal. August 17, 2020); Complaint for Injunctive Relief, Epic Games, Inc. v. Google LLC et al., No. 3:20-cv-05671 (N.D. Cal August 13, 2020). Congressional Research Service 26 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age margins,” Epic Games “failed in its burden to demonstrate Apple is an illegal monopolist.”160 However, the court found that Apple engaged in anticompetitive conduct through its anti-steering provisions—a violation of California competition law—and ruled that Apple cannot prohibit developers from providing external links and other actions that allow customers to make purchases outside of the app within 90 days.161 Apple and Epic Games appealed the decision, and on April 24, 2023, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling from the federal district court.162 The lawsuit against Google is ongoing. The court rulings in these cases may result in app stores reducing the fees charged to the owners of apps, including news publishers. Google: Alleged Monopolization of Search Engine In October 2020, DOJ, along with 11 state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against Google in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia “to stop Google from unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets and to remedy the competitive harms.”163 The lawsuit is ongoing.164 The News Media Alliance, a trade organization representing newspaper publishers, has argued that Google uses its dominance in search to promote its news aggregator and that Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages has made it difficult for publishers to form direct relationships with their readers.165 Potential Legislative Actions Bills introduced in the 117th and 118th Congresses to support newspaper publishers and journalists fall into two main categories: some would amend antitrust laws in ways that might enable newspaper publishers to generate more revenue, while others would support newspaper publishers with grant funding and tax breaks.166 Below are selected examples. 160 Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 4:20-cv-05640-YGR (N.D. Cal. September 10, 2021), Rule 52 Order After Trial on the Merits. 161 Ibid.; Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 4:20-cv-05640-YGR (N.D. Cal. November 9, 2021), Permanent Injunction. 162 Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple Inc., No. 21-16506, 21-16695 (D.C. No. 4:20-cv-05640-YGR April 24, 2023). For more information, see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10960, Appeals Court Holds That Apple’s “Walled Garden” Does Not Violate Federal Antitrust Law, by Jay B. Sykes. 163 DOJ, “Justice Department Sues Monopolist Google for Violating Antitrust Laws,” press release, October 20, 2020, at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-monopolist-google-violating-antitrust-laws. 164 Additional lawsuits have been filed subsequently (see, for example, Matthew Perlman, Google Hit with 3rd Monopolization Suit,” Law360, December 17, 2020, at https://www.law360.com/articles/1338900). For more information about the lawsuits, see CRS Legal Sidebar LSB10544, The Google Antitrust Lawsuit: Initial Observations, by Jay B. Sykes; and CRS Report R46875, Antitrust Reform and Big Tech Firms, by Jay B. Sykes. 165 News Media Alliance, How Google Abuses Its Position as a Market Dominant Platform to Strong-Arm News Publishers and Hurt Journalism, June 2020, p. 2, at http://www.newsmediaalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Final-Alliance-White-Paper-June-18-2020.pdf. 166 Other bills have been introduced that would affect journalists; this report does not discuss those bills. For example, the Journalist Protection Act (S. 2528; H.R. 4857) from the 117th Congress would have implemented penalties for assaulting journalists, and the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act (S. 2457; H.R. 4330) from the 117th Congress would have prohibited a federal entity from compelling a journalist or covered service provider to disclose protected information without a court-issued subpoena or other compulsory process. Congressional Research Service 27 link to page 25 link to page 25 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age Amending Antitrust Laws Amending Clayton Act to Place Restrictions on Ad Tech Ownership: AMERICA Act The Advertising Middlemen Endangering Rigorous Competition Accountability Act (AMERICA Act, S. 1073), introduced in March 2023, would amend the Clayton Act to prohibit entities with more than $20 billion in digital advertising revenue from “owning more than part of the digital ad ecosystem.”167 Specifically, the bill would prohibit such a company from (1) owning both an ad exchange and a supply-side brokerage or both an ad exchange and a demand-side brokerage;168 (2) owning both a supply-side brokerage and a demand-side brokerage; and (3) owning a supply-side or demand-side brokerage if the entity is also a buyer or seller of digital ads. In addition, the AMERICA Act would require firms that process more than $5 billion in digital ad transactions to act in the best interests of their clients and erect firewalls to prevent conflicts of interest. If enacted, the bill would likely require Google and Facebook to divest significant portions of their advertising businesses. The bill would potentially affect the amount of revenue newspaper publishers are able to obtain from digital ads. The share of revenue publishers obtain may increase if competition among SSPs and ad exchanges were to increase. However, the total amount of revenue obtained from digital ads could also decrease, depending on the payment structure used. For example, if the digital ads were performance based (e.g., cost-per-click) and the ad exchanges were less effective at targeting ads, the total amount of revenue could decline, decreasing the amount of revenue obtained by newspapers publishers. Temporary Exemption for Journalism Outlets to Collectively Negotiate: JCPA The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act of 2023 (JCPA, S. 1094), introduced in March 2023, would provide a temporary safe harbor (i.e., a six-year antitrust exemption) for “eligible digital journalism providers” (e.g., broadcasters, cable networks, and publishers) to collectively negotiate with “covered platforms” (e.g., online platforms that meet certain criteria, discussed below) to distribute their news content. Certain media outlets would be ineligible for inclusion, under the JCPA’s definition of “eligible entities.” For example, publications that generate less than $100,000 from editorial content or employ more than 1,500 exclusive full-time employees would be ineligible.169 Although employee data for individual newspapers are not readily available publicly, reports indicate that this exclusion would apply to the three largest newspapers in the United States: the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.170 However, the bill does not 167 Senator Mike Lee, “Advertising Middlemen Endangering Rigorous Internet Competition Accountability (AMERICA) Act, [two-page summary],” March 20, 2023, at https://www.lee.senate.gov/services/files/EAA0E83B-69AC-4E00-9004-A6A7FD870F61. 168 Supply-side and demand-side brokerages are essentially SSPs and DSPs, as discussed above in “Components of Advertising Technology Stack.” 169 S. 1094, §§ 2(11)(B)(vi)(1), 2(11)(B)(viii). 170 Jeremy Littau, “Congress’ Best Idea to Save Local Journalism Would Actually Hurt It,” Slate, December 9, 2022. News reports indicate that Alphabet reached online distribution agreements with News Corp., the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times Company to feature news content from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times in Google news sites around the world. News Corp., “News Corp. and Google Agree to Global Partnership on News,” press release, February 17, 2021, https://newscorp.com/2021/02/17/news-corp-and-google- Congressional Research Service 28 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age include a similar employee limit for publications’ parent organizations.171 Thus, for example, other news publications owned by the Wall Street Journal’s parent organization, News Corp., including the New York Post and Barrons,172 might be eligible. Likewise, according to the JCPA’s definition of a “television network,” the broadcast television networks ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, as well as broadcast stations owned and operated by those networks, would not be eligible.173 Other news-producing broadcast networks, however, including Univision (partly owned by Grupo Televisa, Softbank, and Google)174 and Telemundo (a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation),175 would be eligible for exemption, along with their parent companies’ owned-and-operated broadcast stations. The eligible broadcaster is a “person” that “holds or operates under a license issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under Title III of the Communications Act of 1934, (47 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.).”176 In addition to local broadcast radio and television stations, national cable television and radio networks rely on licenses issued by the FCC under Title III of the Communications Act (i.e., satellite stations) to transmit programming across the country.177 Examples of such national licensees include Fox News Network LLC, Herring Networks Inc. (owner of One America News Network),178 Bloomberg Communications Inc. (owner of the Bloomberg television network),179 Public Radio International (a 501(c)(3) organization that distributes broadcast radio programs),180 and SiriusXM Radio Inc.181 Therefore, based on this definition of eligible broadcaster, these national media organizations, as well as local broadcast media outlets, would be eligible for the temporary antitrust exemption described in the JCPA bill. Pursuant to the JCPA, media outlets eligible for the antitrust exemption would be able to negotiate only with “covered platforms” that meet several criteria. These criteria, measured agree-to-global-partnership-on-news/; and Alexandra Bruell, “New York Times Details Google Pay,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 2023. 171 As of June 30, 2022, News Corp. had about 25,000 employees, of whom about 9,000 were located within the United States. News Corporation, SEC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, p. 14, at https://investors.newscorp.com/static-files/8c153e10-28ca-48c4-80d0-60e57c7a1c0b. 172 News Corp., “Our Businesses and Brands,” at https://newscorp.com/news-corp-businesses-and-brands/ (last visited May 21, 2023). 173 S. 1094, § 2(12). 174 TelevisaUnivision, Inc., “Univision and Televisa Complete Transaction to Create ‘TelevisaUnivision,’ the World’s Leading Spanish-Language Media and Content Company,” press release, January 31, 2022, at https://investors.televisaunivision.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2022/Univision-and-Televisa-Complete-Transaction-to-Create-TelevisaUnivision-the-Worlds-Leading-Spanish-Language-Media-and-Content-Company/default.aspx. 175 Comcast Corporation, “Comcast Reports 4th Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results,” press release, January 26, 2023, at https://www.cmcsa.com/news-releases/news-release-details/comcast-reports-4th-quarter-and-full-year-2022-results. 176 S. 1094, §2(3). 177 Federal Communications Commission (FCC), “Further Streamlining Part 25 Rules Governing Satellite Services,” Report and Order, FCC 20-159, 33 FCC Record 1385, November 19, 2020. 178 Herring Networks, Inc., “About One American News Network,” at https://www.oann.com/about/. 179 Bloomberg Finance L.P., “Bloomberg the Company & Its Products.” 180 Although the FCC lists its license name as “Public Radio International,” the company changed its name to PRX in 2018 after merging with an audio technology company. Tyler Falk, “PRX Drops PRI From Branding,” Current, November 1, 2019, at https://current.org/2019/11/prx-drops-pri-from-branding/. 181 CRS analysis of data from FCC, International Bureau, Satellite Space Stations, Current Authorizations by Licensee, at https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/ib/forms/reports/swr014b.hts?as_subsystem_code=SAT&column=ADDRESS.address_nameC/Name&fstate=1/CURRENT&prepare=/. Congressional Research Service 29 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age during the 12 months preceding the formation of a joint negotiation entity by broadcasters and publishers, would include but are not limited to the following:  having a minimum of 50 million U.S.-based active users or subscribers;  being owned or controlled by an entity with  U.S. net annual sales or a market capitalization greater than $550 billion, adjusted for inflation based on Consumer Price Index, or  at least 1 billion worldwide monthly active users; and  is not a nonprofit.182 The JCPA would set forth a framework for eligible digital journalism providers to form a joint negotiation entity, including the provision that each eligible digital journalism provider shall be eligible to one vote on any matter submitted to a vote of the members.183 In addition, the bill would specify permitted and prohibited conduct for the joint negations, including a requirement that parties negotiate in good faith.184 Under the JCPA, parties would be required to file copies of the following with the FTC and the Assistant Attorney General in charge of DOJ’s Antitrust Division no later than 60 days after execution/issuance: (1) any written agreements and (2) any arbitration decisions.185 In addition, eligible digital journalism providers would be required to provide public transparency regarding the use of any funds to support operations to maintain or enhance news production and distribution, including public reporting regarding the amount of funds received each year under or related to each such agreement or decision.186 The bill would prohibit covered platforms and joint negotiating entities from discriminating on the basis of the eligible digital journalism provider’s size or views expressed by its content.187 Parties alleging a violation of the bill’s provisions related to negotiations, discrimination, and retaliation would be allowed to bring a civil action in an appropriate district court. Support for News Publishers Tax Breaks for News Publishers, Advertisers, and Subscribers The Local Journalism Sustainability Act (H.R. 3940; S. 2434) from the 117th Congress would have allowed individual and business taxpayers to receive tax credits for supporting local newspapers and media. Specifically, business taxpayers to receive tax credits for supporting local newspapers and media. Specifically,
individual taxpayers might claim an income tax credit of up to $250 for a local newspaper individual taxpayers might claim an income tax credit of up to $250 for a local newspaper
subscription. The bill subscription. The bill ~~also would allow~~would have also allowed local newspaper employers a payroll tax credit for wages local newspaper employers a payroll tax credit for wages
paid to an employee for service as a local news journalist and certain small businesses a tax credit paid to an employee for service as a local news journalist and certain small businesses a tax credit
~~for local newspaper and media advertising expenses. Portions of this bill have been incorporated~~
~~into the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376).158~~
~~Establishment of Local News Committee~~
~~The Future of Local News Act of 2021 (H.R. 3169; S. 1601) would create the Future of Local~~
~~News Committee to examine the state of local news and make recommendations related to the~~
~~ability of local news to meet information needs. The duties of the committee would include (1)~~
~~examining the implications of the loss of local newspapers, digital news outlets, and broadcasting~~
~~outlets; (2) assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether the Paycheck~~

~~156 To be considered a covered platform, an online platform must meet certain criteria for the number of monthly active~~
~~users and net annual sales or market capitalization.~~
~~157 For example, if this bill is implemented, it may become unlawful for a company to operate advertising services and~~
~~an ad-based news aggregator service.~~
~~158 Most of Section 3 of H.R. 3940 was incorporated into Section 138517 of H.R. 5376 as passed by the House of~~
~~Representatives on November 19, 2021.~~
~~Congressional Research Service~~

28

~~Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age~~

~~Protection Program has had beneficial effects on local news organizations; and (3) assessing and~~
~~examining existing and potential means of supporting local news production. The bill would~~
~~direct~~for local newspaper and media advertising expenses. 182 For example, Meta estimates that its worldwide monthly active users across its “Family of Apps” (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, and What’s App) collectively was 3.74 billion as of December 31, 2022, and Facebook’s worldwide monthly active users were 2.96 billion as of December 31, 2022. Meta Platforms, Inc., SEC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, p. 56. 183 S. 1094, §3(a)(1)(D). 184 S. 1094, §3(b). 185 S. 1094, §5(c). 186 S. 1094, §6(c). 187 S. 1094, §6. Congressional Research Service 30 Stop the Presses? Newspapers in the Digital Age Establishment of Local News Committee The Future of Local News Act of 2021 (H.R. 3169; S. 1601) from the 117th Congress would have created the Future of Local News Committee to examine the state of local news and make recommendations related to the ability of local news to meet information needs. The bill would have directed the committee to recommend mechanisms that the federal government could implement to the committee to recommend mechanisms that the federal government could implement to
support the production of local news, such as the support the production of local news, such as the ~~possible~~ creation of a national endowment for creation of a national endowment for
local journalism. The committee would local journalism. The committee would ~~comprise~~have comprised 13 members, including 13 members, including 8 eight appointed by appointed by
congressional leadership. congressional leadership.

Author Information

Dana A. Scherer Dana A. Scherer
Clare Y. Cho Clare Y. Cho
Specialist in Telecommunications Policy Specialist in Telecommunications Policy
Analyst in Industrial Organization and Business Analyst in Industrial Organization and Business

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Congressional Research Service Congressional Research Service
R47018 R47018 · VERSION ~~3 · NEW~~
294 · UPDATED 31