Google wins victory in row with German publishers

A German regulator handed Google a victory as it said it would not pursue a complaint brought against the company by a group of publishers for giving users access to their news articles.

Several publishers including Axel Springer SE and Burda had banded together in a group called VG Media to demand Google pay them for making their online articles available to the public.

"Sufficient suspicion is always necessary to initiate an abuse procedure. The complaint from VG Media did not establish this," said Andreas Mundt, president of Germany's Federal Cartel Office.