Google is bidding 'billions' to get back on the front foot over its use of news media publishers' content.
New announcements from the search giant, which see Germany and Brazil the first countries in its News Showcase roll-out, are a rehash of statements in June which named the publishers of Der Spiegel in Germany and Diarios Associados in Brazil as partners.
Except that now Google says agreements announced then with Adelaide-based local publisher Solstice Media, Schwartz Media and university-backed The Conversation have been put on hold because of uncertainty over the Australian government's proposed mandatory code.
Last Friday, a post by Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google and its parent company Alphabet, upped the stakes to "US1 billion over three years" and said some 200 publications had now signed up, taking the product to other countries "over time", and naming Argentina, Canada and the UK, and then India, Belgium and the Netherlands.
How? Google says News Showcase 'story panels' will first appear in Google News on Android, with iOS to follow, and Discover and Search "in the future". Participating publishers will be able to "package" other elements in stories to provide context, and there are plans to include "other components such as video, audio and daily briefings". It claims the new programme "builds on existing news licensing" and "other news-related efforts" and will drive "high-value traffic" to a publisher's site.
It has been described by Nieman Lab as "welcome - but PR, not a product".
So much for the benefits: Pichai leaves it to ANZ managing director Mel Silva - who has been running the local part of a charm offensive which has backed regional handout schemes such as the Google News Initiative - to drop the bad news, making sure Australians know they are being punished for daring to challenge the digital giant.
"As we've previously said, as we work to understand the impacts of the news media bargaining code on partnerships and products, we have put this project on pause for now," she said in a statement. "Although our concerns about the code are serious, we hope they can be resolved so we can bring News Showcase to Australia soon, as we believe the programme will help publishers grow their audience and contribute towards the overall sustainability of our Australian news partners."
Or keep them from driving legal controls over Google's huge business, and that of Facebook, perhaps?
Keeping up the pressure this week is another video, in which Greta Lee Jackson - a comedian with 12,000 FB likes, best known for her Skit Box and Fresh Blood roles - presents a somewhat over-simplified and one-sided version of what might happen if the mandatory code legislation goes through: You're on this bus which drops people off at restaurants around town, but the bus operator has to pay the restaurants for the privilege of delivering them. She says that's no joke, but there's no mention of what the bus operator is making out of it, which restaurants the bus goes to first - a bit like airport transfer buses - or what passengers have to share with the driver (perhaps what's in their handbag/wallet?) possibly making for a flawed analogy.
It comes in a similar vein to a bleat from YouTube - which Google bought in 2006 for US$1.65 billion in shares after the failure of its own video channel - in which 'creator liaison' Matt Koval suggests that it wouldn't be able to operate in Australia if regulated.
In last week's warm-and-fuzzy post, Pichai tells of "one of the most enduring memories" of his childhood - waiting for his father and grandfather to finish the paper over breakfast, so that he could get "the latest headlines, especially in the sports section".
"I have always valued quality journalism and believed that a vibrant news industry is critical to a functioning democratic society," he says, but adds that Google's "mission to organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful" is "equally important".
Handouts from the digital giants date back more than five years, when Google kicked off its Digital News Initiative in Europe in a bid to ward off legislation there, and have increased in size and scope ever since.
As it strives to keep the upper hand - being ever the munificent benefactor, handing out while taking away - Google seems desperate to ensure that laws such as those proposed for Australia don't become the norm worldwide.
It's clear what the alternative could be, and it's not pretty: giant unregulated corporations sometimes controlled by individuals, driving their own "missions" to decide the shape of our future. And no, it's not just Google and Facebook, but it's a start.
Peter Coleman is managing editor of GXpress.net