If you ever wondered what “deprecating the news tab” on Facebook meant, wonder on.

Reports that Google has made new deals under the News Media Bargaining Code with News Corp and some independent publishers has been accompanied by suggestions that Meta isn’t ready for a fight yet. Industry publication Mumbrella today reported that it had been told by Meta that “all options are on the table” and they were not necessarily opposed to striking a new deal.

The Australian Financial Review has reported that publishers being offered new one-year agreements with Google include independent local publishers Times News Group and Solstice Media, as well as Crikey, The Conversation, Women’s Agenda and Independent Media.

Meta is reported to have qualified its earlier announcement that the Facebook news tab was being deprecated by saying that they were exploring “all options” about how news was served on the platform.

Agreements were mostly confidential, but the prospect of them not being renewed has been used by Seven, Nine and News as among reasons for newsroom redundancies. The agreements Seven and Nine have with Google were for five years, expiring in May 2026, while agreements with the smaller publishers had been for three years.

The AFR quotes Google director of government affairs Lucinda Longcroft that it had signed commercial agreements with “more than 80 Australian news businesses, representing more than 200 outlets” over the past three years.

Meta’s position looks more reserved – despite campaigning by publishers including News – with a spokesperson telling Mumbrella it hoped the government sees “the many benefits our free services provide to publishers” and will continue to “engage” with them on the topic.