[marcus_holmes]

Paying journalists to write stories, only to have Google "index" that content in such a way that your readers don't feel the need to visit your site and see your ads, is not a workable business model.

But (as you say), not letting Google index your stories at all reduces your traffic to the point where you can't make enough money to pay the journalist either.

It's a very tough call for the newspaper industry. The only way out that I can see is getting readers to pay for news. Unfortunately we've educated an entire generation that news is free. Going back from that is going to be difficult.

[squiggleblaz]

I guess the American multinational corporations could have negotiated between themselves to simplify what is shown. Instead of showing the headline and a snippet, it could have shown simply "Herald Sun, political report, 25/07/2020" or "The Age, opinion, 13/01/2021".