The media industry was (more) unsettled last week after some users noticed that Google had removed the News tab from its search engine. The action was partial, affecting a limited amount of people, and temporary. But the question of the reason for this still raised concerns in an industry that cannot afford losing more sources of traffic and revenue.
The timing was also ominous. Google's test, conducted last week between Wednesday and Friday, coincided with the announcement that Vice News will no longer publish content in its flagship website. Once a fast-growing digital media company that gained a wide following among young readers and was worth billions, Vice also announced hundreds of layoffs as part of this decision.
