Microsoft backs Australian plan to make Google pay for news

Microsoft says it supports Australia’s plans to make the biggest digital platforms pay for news (Rick Rycroft/AP)

Microsoft has said it supports Australia’s plans to make the biggest digital platforms pay for news and would help small businesses transfer their advertising to Bing if Google quits the country.

Microsoft has been positioning itself to increase market share for its search engine Bing after a Google executive told a Senate hearing last month it would likely make its search engine unavailable in Australia if the government implements a draft law compelling tech giants pay for news content.