Google is one of News Corp.'s major preoccupations, and is “hugely dangerous,” the editor-in-chief of Times Online told the Society of Editors conference, Press Gazette reported Tuesday.

“Its move into DNA is a massive threat, and I wonder whether we will start feeling that they are behaving a bit too much like big brother,” Anne Spackman said, speaking as a panel member about the future of newspapers.

“Google now affects everything we do online,” Spackman told Press Gazette following the panel discussion.

Optimising sites for Google is important for newspapers, because the search engine giant drives a large proportion of search traffic. This means any minor changes Google makes to its search algorithm can highly affect newspaper site traffic. Spackman pointed out that when Google made minor changes to its algorithm in October, WashingtonPost.com was one of several major newspaper sites to see a temporary drop in rank.

And while Google's impact is being felt mostly by larger papers, Spackman predicts local newspapers to be the next in line to feel Google's impact, as Google Maps changes the local listings and advertising market, Press Gazette reported.