Google Willing To Help Record Labels Combat Music Piracy, But It’ll Cost Them

If the record labels want Google to help them find links to infringing content; it'll cost them. As much as $5 per thousand queries, say new reports. It costs money to provide services to aid the labels in their 'war on piracy' and Google plans to recoup every penny. After all, they have operating costs too. But, to be a viable solution to the labels, this service would have to not end up costing them several million dollars a year, which it would. Critics are crying foul, saying that Google profits from piracy no matter what anyone does. Their ads run on pirate sites. They want to charge to search for the links to pirate sites.

This time around, however, Google has to be a little bit nicer to the record labels. While it's still not their job to police Internet, they're looking to get in the digital music business. But the leverage is more so on Google's side.

The record labels want them to challenge Apple and loosen their grip on the digital music market. On the other hand, to gain optimum traction, Google might have to make it a little easier for labels to track down links to infringing content.

Both Google and Apple, regardless of their public stance on music piracy, still stand to profit from it. Google gives advertizing revenues to the pirate sites and helps their operations stay afloat, the theory goes, and Apple sells music fans the digital devices needed to store all of their free songs. For now, the record labels need both tech companies in the market to stay afloat themselves.

To see how Google profits from piracy, see the video below by Ellen Seidler: 

via Cnet.