SIZE does matter, but only up to a point.
Tech giants like Google and Facebook have very little appreciation of this. Backed by their size, they have been mining media companies' news for free to earn a fortune in ad revenue.
Governments around the world are beginning to put size in its place. Australia is the latest, with its draft News Media Bargaining Code that compels tech giants, like Google and Facebook, to negotiate with Australian media companies a fair payment for the news used in their services.
Unsurprisingly, Google, in an open letter addressed to all Australians, has come back with anger.
Soon it will look back in regret. The open letter is a public relations disaster. If it is not one yet, it will be soon.
Here is why. While the letter is addressed to the Australians, it tells the media companies of the world how it will bark at and bite the media companies around the world if they dare ask what is due to them.
And there is a bark and bite, too, for the "slaves" of Google and YouTube. Mel Silva, managing director of Google Australia, says so, not in so many words, in the very first sentence of her letter: "We need to let you know about new government regulation that will hurt how Australians use Google Search and YouTube."
Never was "we can hurt you in more ways than you will ever know" put more subtly. Size does sometimes do this to some organisations. And what exactly is this hurt? Here are Silva's three hurts.
One, the way the Australians search everyday on Google is at risk from the new regulation.
Two, Google and YouTube users' data may be at risk. Three, the free services Australians use will be hurt.
Google may not have expected a rapid fire response from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the organisation behind the News Media Bargaining Code, but it came on the very Monday Google issued its letter.
ACCC didn't mince its words in its website response. Saying that "Google's open letter contains misinformation about the draft code", The ACCC makes two pointed remarks directed at Google.
Google will not be required to charge Australians for Google Search and YouTube unless Google chooses to do so.
Google will not be required to share any additional user data with Australian news businesses unless Google chooses to do so.
Just like that, the three hurts that Google warned Australians of were gone. We are on the same page as the ACCC. A code like the one the ACCC is putting together will allow media companies to negotiate with companies like Google a fair payment for their news that is included in their services.
Besides, such codes cut big tech to size by addressing in a significant way the bargaining power imbalance between them and media companies.
Silva says in the open letter that Google deeply believes in the importance of news to society. So do the media companies. This is why media companies put so much of time, money and effort into producing quality news.
Google knows only too well that quality comes at a price. Google has an option.
Use the news and make a fair payment of the ad revenue so generated. Or, do not use the news at all.