Google agreed to pay Wikipedia for content on the search engine

Google agreed to pay Wikipedia for content displayed by its search engine, replicating deals the US tech giant struck with media outlets in Europe.

The Wikimedia Foundation, the charity that oversees the online encyclopedia, said Google was the first customer to pay its commercial firm Wikimedia Enterprisewhich launched last year.

Meanwhile, the service will be offered free of charge to the Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization that runs the Wayback Machine, which saves snapshots of websites and is used to repair Wikipedia links.

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“We are delighted to be working with both of them as our long-time partners,” Wikimedia’s Lane Becker said in a statement Tuesday.

The text did not reveal the amount of the contract with Google.

Wikipedia, one of the most visited websites in the worldis free to use, updated by volunteers, and relies on donations to stay afloat.

The new commercial arm will not change that arrangement for individual users, the foundation said.

Google uses material from the site for its “knowledge panel”a sidebar that accompanies the main search results and does not always show the source of the information, which has caused complaints from Wikimedia.

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Google has previously given money to Wikipedia through donations and grants.

“We have long supported the Wikimedia Foundation in pursuit of our shared goals of expanding knowledge and access to information for people everywhere,” said Google’s Tim Palmer.

French regulators and Google ended a years-long dispute on Tuesday by agreeing on a framework for the US company to pay media outlets for their content.

Google said it had already reached deals with hundreds of media outlets across Europe.

Source: Elcomercio

James

I have worked as a journalist for over 10 years and have written for various news outlets. I currently work as an author at 24 News Recorder, mostly covering entertainment news. I have a keen interest in the industry and enjoy writing about the latest news and gossip. I am also a member of the National Association of Journalists.