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Google Reveals Payment Deal with AP
mytrip writes to mention a ZDNet article concerning a deal Google has struck with the Associated Press. The search company has ended a dispute between the two organizations by agreeing to pay for the articles and content it delivers via its Google News service. From the article: "Financial terms were not disclosed. Consequently, it's unclear whether the deal involves a flat fee or paying AP according to traffic statistics. On the surface, paying the Associated Press seems to conflict with the stance Google has traditionally taken regarding its Google News service. Because Google News is an aggregator, the company has argued, Google is not obliged to reimburse news outlets for linking to their content. But Wednesday's announcement said the AP content will be the foundation for a new product that will merely complement Google News. Thus Google maintains that the deal supports its original stance on fair use."
the AP has been making a push for modernization, and now estimates that 20 percent of its revenue comes from online sources.
Sounds like AP are scared of Google competing with them. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
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I myself have never understood why news sites wouldn't want a popular aggregator like Google News pointing visitors to their news articles. Some of said articles would likely never have been viewed in the first place by some readers, had it not been for an aggregator. They appear to be cutting off their arm to spite their finger.
VOTE!
I agree - even the summary says that Google is planning on a new service with AP stories.
Many people will say that this drifts away from Google's main mission because it doesn't "send people off" to other websites, which is the core of web searching.
However, this should make AP articles (and maybe Reuters + others later?) faster loading, ad-less, and centralized. Plus, it's not the first time Google has helped by not "sending people off": they've done it to Usenet, blogs, maps, and all their new content platforms (video, Base, page creator, etc.)
I think it is always important to remind people of the tried-and-true *alternatives* to capitalism. These boards are highly critical of capitalism, and I agree it has its share of "warts", but, as Churchill so eloquently said:
"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."
Choose your poison.
The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.
I don't know if they could do this without inking the deal, but quite often the majority of news stories in a single entry on Google News are copies of the same AP news wire article. Perhaps this will give Google an opportunity to mark articles as the same, or somehow reduce clutter.
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
If Google is allowed to cal litself a news aggregator and link freely to AP articles, then why shouldn't the NYT or the Washington Post be able to do the same? You don't think they write all their own stories do you? Many news agencies utilize AP stories because the AP has people around the world already in place and who write stories about events in their locales. Google got caught with its pants down and tried to play the "shiny new intarweb" card and the AP didn't blink. If you want to utilize AP stories you have to pay for their service, period. There's nothing wrong or nefarious about this practice whatsoever.