"That's a strawman; the bots never indicated intention to read. They indicated (via `User-Agent' header) intention to index content and got HTTP 200 OK response to that."
The publishers aren't objecting to being indexed. They are objecting because snippets of their articles are being copied, placed on Google News, and used to sell ads without their permission, and they're not being compensated.
The publishers aren't objecting to being indexed. They are objecting because snippets of their articles are being copied, placed on Google News, and used to sell ads without their permission, and they're not being compensated.