Google has launched a “temporary” test in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain to measure how the absence of EU-based news content in search results affects user habits. The test is intended to provide regulators and publishers with more data on access to news through Google’s search engine. About 1% of users in the participating countries will not see EU news outlets on certain Google services.

In France, however, the test was halted after the Paris court sided with an appeal by the French Magazine Press Publishers' Trade Association (SEPM). Otherwise, Google faced a potential daily fine of €900,000. The company said the test was part of its compliance with the EU Copyright Directive and the bloc’s licensing program, adding that it was surprised by SEPM’s objection despite its request for access to test data.