With regards to its efforts with the government on reviving back lost ad revenue, Google announced that it has compensated Canadian media houses Can$100 million to utilize their content on its platform.

Following Australia and other European nations, Canada also passed the Online News Act in 2023, to impose laws requiring digital companies to pay struggling news publishers.

Paul Deegan, president of News Media Canada, an organization of major publishers and broadcasters, said the landmark deal was "far superior" than similar arrangements in other jurisdictions, with Canadian news groups expected to get up to Can$20,000 per journalist.

The funding, he said, will give newsrooms a much-needed boost "to produce more high-quality coverage of our democratic institutions," while Google "benefits tremendously from the fact-based, fact-checked content our journalists produce."

On the other hand, California-based Google assured AFP that it plans to stand by the agreement, which called for another payment at the end of 2025.

The Canadian act was enforced aiming to assist the local news industry, which has lost hundreds of publications and advertising revenue over the past ten years.

Meta's Instagram and Facebook restricted Canadian news content to avoid paying media houses.

Prior to making public of the financial agreement, which was authorized by Canada's broadcast regulator last year, Google had vowed to follow suit.

According to the terms, news publishers will split the remaining Google cash, with broadcasters receiving 30 percent.

Additionally, Google and the US state of California reached an agreement last year for Google to contribute to the survival of local news organizations.