Google does it again. Today marks the launch of Google News, a vigorous undertaking on the part of Google and hundreds of newspapers. I remember the days when archived newspaper content needed to be sorted through on microfiche, or sorted through on Lexis-Nexis. Not only does this content become instantaneously available, it offers an additional revenue stream for newspapers. In other words, everybody wins. See, Microsoft? It's always better to share.
- You pay $3 for your research, and save 3 hours. Check.
- Google makes money off of advertising and the agreement with the newspapers. Check.
- The newspapers make money off of "pay-per-view" articles, most of which were previously inaccessible unless you had a few hours to spare. Check.
While Google has made newspapers "famously ambivalent" over the years, today's launch turns Google into the "newspaper fee-based archive’s best friend." Google is not taking a cut of any of the revenue generated. While fee-based archives are available at each source, aggregating them together makes it possible to expose archive material more effectively than ever before, and to a wider audience.
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