A key executive from Google’s news division has reportedly resigned from his post – a departure that occurred during a period of rising tensions with publishers who have accused the search giant of siphoning critical advertising revenue.
Shailesh Prakash had served as a vice president and general manager for Google News. A source confirmed that he is no longer with the company.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on his resignation, citing people familiar with the matter.
The circumstances behind Prakash’s resignation were not immediately clear. Google declined to comment.
Prakash’s job experience gave him unique insight into the news industry’s gripes with Google. He joined Google in Nov. 2022 after an 11-year stint at the Washington Post, where he served as chief product and technology officer, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He was credited with guiding the newspaper’s shift toward digital content during that period, including its creation of an in-house advertising technology business, the Journal said.
Prakash reportedly worked closely with billionaire Jeff Bezos after the Amazon founder bought the Washington Post for $500 million in 2013. The outgoing Google executive previously held roles at Sears and Microsoft.
Google has faced intense scrutiny in recent months over its business practices and the alleged harm they have caused to news publishers, which rely on the search giant for the site traffic that underpins ad sales.
The Big Tech giant rankled online publishers last May after it introduced a feature called “AI Overviews” – which places an auto-generated summary at the top of its search results while burying links to other sites.
News Media Alliance, a nonprofit that represents more than 2,200 publishers, including The Post, said the feature would be “catastrophic to our traffic” and has called on the feds to intervene.
Critics allege that Google used publishers’ copyrighted content to “train” its artificial intelligence tools without proper credit or attribution. Google is also accused of dodging legislative efforts aimed at making tech firms pay their fair share.
Last month, The Post exclusively reported on emails that revealed how Google leveraged its access to the Office of the US Trade Representative as it sought to undermine overseas regulations — including Canada’s Online News Act, which required Google to pay for the right to display news content.
The Justice Department has a major antitrust case targeting Google’s digital advertising business. The feds allege that Google has abused a stranglehold on digital market technology to siphon revenue from publishers and advertisers alike.
In September, a former executive from The Post’s parent News Corp testified that the publishing giant considered switching away from Google’s ad products in 2017, but balked after calculating that it would cost the company at least $9 million in lost revenue.
Closing arguments in the DOJ’s digital advertising case against Google are scheduled to take place on Nov. 25, with a final ruling expected early next year.
Separately, a federal judge ruled in August that Google operates an illegal monopoly over online search. Judge Amit Mehta is expected to rule on potential remedies by next summer.
While outlining potential solutions to break Google’s monopoly, the DOJ warned that the rise of AI was an “emerging barrier to competition and risks further entrenching Google’s dominance” unless steps are taken to address it.
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