Murdoch will remove news sites from Google

Rupert Murdoch has said he will remove News Corp news portals from Google and other search engines to prevent what he sees as the stealing of stories.

Speaking to Sky News Australia’s David Speers, Murdoch says that online news content should not have been free to start with, “we’ve been asleep” and indicated that the removal of News Corp websites from search engines would co-incide with a move to more wholesale charging for content.

It was not made clear however how key News Corp sites like the Wall Street Journal, who currently market news headlines through search engines with full articles available on subscription, would be affected.

Murdoch reaffirmed his stance against Google, Microsoft, Ask and other search engines who he sees as ‘content kleptomaniacs’ viewing visitors via search engines as low value, preferring to attract fewer visitors who pay.