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People Magazine CEO Blasts Google as “Bad Actor” Over Content Theft
2 min read Media vs Tech heats up: People Magazine’s CEO calls Google a “bad actor”, accusing it of stealing publisher content. With AI summaries cutting clicks, this fight could reshape the future of news online. September 13, 2025 14:39
The media vs. tech battle just got louder. People Magazine’s CEO took direct aim at Google this week, calling the search giant a “bad actor” and accusing it of outright stealing publisher content to feed its products.
Here’s the tension: publishers like People spend millions creating journalism, but Google increasingly surfaces that work—sometimes with AI summaries—without driving readers back to the original source. For media companies already battling declining ad revenue, that’s not just annoying, it’s existential.
Why it matters: If big-name publishers like People are this openly hostile, expect louder industry pushback, potential lawsuits, and new lobbying for AI/content regulation. Google’s whole ecosystem is built on indexed information—if publishers start fighting back aggressively, it could reshape how we access news and entertainment online.
The hot take? This isn’t just a People vs. Google story. It’s a preview of the coming media wars: journalism vs. AI-driven platforms, creators vs. algorithms. And right now, the trust lines are cracking fast.
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