Google to shut Spanish news service Dec 16

Online search giant Google is all set to shut down its Google News service in Spain Dec 16 before a new intellectual property law, also known as "Google Tax", is introduced in January.

The law allows Spanish publications to charge services like Google News if their content is shown on the site, BBC reported.

The Spanish government passed in October the copyright law which imposes fees for online content aggregators such as Google News, in an effort to protect the country's print media industry.

However, Google has argued against the ruling, saying that it made no money from its search-based service.

"It's with real sadness that we'll remove Spanish publishers from Google News Dec 16, and close Google News in Spain," said Richard Gingras, head of Google News, in a blog post Wednesday.

He went on to add that the law which would allow Spanish publishers to charge Google "for showing even the smallest snippet from their publications" was not sustainable.

"Google News itself makes no money (we do not show any advertising on the site)," he said.