A while back I reported on the Monster from Mountain View curiously caving to perfectly reasonable consumer demands. Since Google is famous for staying the course, that story softened their image a bit and demonstrated a willingness to adapt to their customer's tastes. Lest we lull ourselves into believing that a kinder, gentler Google may be emerging, the company is back in the headlines today as a latent consequence of its refusal to compromise with a bunch of French newspapers. What got these Frenchmen so upset in the first place? Google's refusal to give these media outlets a cut of the ad revenue that their content generated.

This issue is hardly new. Google's actually been sued over its news feed on the grounds of copyright infringement, but this case was about as successful as most of the legal challenges Google has faced over the years. Indeed, their track record is undeniably impressive, especially when you consider how many antitrust and intellectual property claims they've skirted. Nevertheless, these determined Frenchmen are setting themselves up to teach Google a lesson. After all, in this instance, Google is the middle man. Google news would not be able to operate without content, although it's not yet clear whether or not these newspapers will be boycotting Google entirely. I'm no business expert, but it seems to me that this move would be relegated to a harmless symbolic gesture if the companies opt to continue to allow Google to use their articles. Sure, a handful of hardcore nationalists and zealous anti-corporatists will flock to a viable alternative to the Google Empire, but those without profound political convictions will simply ignore it as long as they can access the stories they want to read in a format they're comfortable with.

Rumor has it that Google is attempting to avoid another such instance in the future by developing a "micropayment" plan (known as NewsPass)that will pass a few bucks along to their publishers. Now there's no way that the French collation is unaware of Google's proposed remedy;openly defying the ruler of the search engine world signifies a deep hatred. Obviously, there is more to this rift than the official storyline discloses, unless these folks are going to simply look the other way while Google continues to make use of their labor. This could turn into another David and Goliath scenario very quickly, which illustrates why boycotting Google would be a risky venture at best. Still, print media is slowly disappearing as a result of the interwebs and these folks may truly believe they have nothing to lose at this point. Their choices are to continue to be exploited by a massive, foreign corporation, or to build strength in numbers and prepare for a pyrrhic victory. Considering the anti-Google attitude coming out of continental Europe lately, they may be able to capitalize on underdog sympathies and calls for increased localism stemming from long held reservations about the impact of globalization a.k.a. Americanization.

One thing's for sure: they have no choice but to go for the gold. Otherwise their credibility and branding will be forever tarnished. Their success hinges on their looming decision to completely boycott Google. They're set to launch in September, although their fate will be sealed as soon as they make the big announcement. Here's hoping they tackle the beast head on.