Dimitra Letsa, responsible for News & Publishers Partnerships at Google in Scandinavia, announces in a written statement to the Danish newspaper Journalisten.
"The test will end this weekend, when we have collected the data we need. This means that the news content in the search results will be visible to the affected percentage of users in the same way as before the test. We will then analyze the data and share our lessons and conclusions in the coming weeks", writes Dimitra Letsa.
"Guinea pigs"
The experiment removed content from traditional news media when the affected Danish users used Google's search function. However, it was still possible to access the media websites directly through Google's web browser Chrome.
According to Google, the purpose of the test was to collect data on how much news content takes up in Google searches.
Both EU parliamentarians and Danish ministers have directed harsh criticism towards Google.
By preventing one percent of the population from accessing Danish news media, you start a news lottery, make Danes into guinea pigs, and do it without informing those who will be affected and without asking for permission first, thundered Denmark's Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt (M) in December.
France stopped
Besides Denmark, one percent of users in Belgium, Croatia, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain were also affected. France was also intended to be part of the test. But there, the French government managed to stop it through a court ruling.
Google announced its plans for the experiment on November 14 last year. It is not known exactly when it started.
