Google has laid off Madhav Chinnappa, its Director of News Ecosystem Development, in a move that raises questions about its future plans.

Google has a number of initiatives to help support news publishers and journalists. Despite this, the company has increasingly been in the headlines for being at odds with jurisdictions that want the company to pay publishers for the news it links to and uses, most recently blocking news in Canada.

In the midst of this, Google has laid off Chinnappa, a 13-year veteran of the company. Chinnappa revealed the news in a LinkedIn post, in which he showed his Google employee badge:

tl;dr from the image you can probably guess what this is about: I am leaving Google as part of the #googlelayoffs

Chinnappa says he will take some time off before looking for a new job:

And what now: I am in the privileged position of being able some time to figure that out. In the near term, I have some pressing family issues that need my fuller attention so in the spirit of the Zen proverb that the tea cup must be empty before it can be full, I will take August off then spend September looking after my mum in India and only start thinking about work in October with a view to doing more things in 2024. Though if you have any ideas or thoughts, please message me as I am all ears and have more time on my hands now!

Thank you if you made it all the way down here and have a lovely summer and take care – Madhav

Chinnappa’s departure, especially after more than a decade at the company, certainly raises questions about what Google has planned for its news initiatives.