Google for news

Lots of people chiming in on Google's use today of full-text Associated Press stories instead of linking to AP member Web sites.

People had been wondering whatever happened to the AP-Google agreement announced a year or so ago and now we know.

It looks somewhat like a play to catch-up with Yahoo News, which already uses the AP wire. In July, Yahoo News had an audience of 33.8 million to Google News' 9.6 million.

For the AP, well, as the AP story says:

In recognition of the challenges facing the media, the AP froze its basic rates for member newspapers and broadcasters this year and already has committed to keeping fees at the same level next year.

That concession has intensified the pressure on AP to plumb new revenue channels by selling its content to so-called "commercial" customers on the Web. Those efforts helped the not-for-profit AP boost its revenue by 4 percent last year to $680 million.

My take: While traffic from Google is hugely important to any Web site, traffic from Google News to AP stories isn't big for most AP-member newspapers. But it will enhance Google's stature as a news and information source.

For newspapers, kind of a yawner in the swirling scheme of things.

(I did find it interesting the story didn't make the AP's Industry News blog. Waiting for the Google News Alert?)

But others got more excited about the alignment of the storied wire service and the world's favorite search enigne.  Here's some react on the Google News-Associate Press story.

• Danny Sullivan: Google News Now Hosting Wire Stories & Promises Better Variety In Results
• Tim O'Reilly: Google to Host AP News
• Danny Sanchez: Google to publish Associated Press, other news content
• Updated: Rafat Ali: Google News Starts Publishing Full Stories; AP, AFP, PA and Canadian Press; Still No Ads and Google Rationale For Deal With Wires: "Duplicate Detection"
• techdirt: Google Finally Hosting News On Its Site: Will Newspapers Get Pissed Off At AP Now?
• Josh Cohen/Google News Blog: Original stories, from the source
• Updated: Patrick Beeson's pre-announcement Newspaper wire services are obsolete and post-announcement Google hosts AP, death knell for wire services 
• Glenn Franxman: Death of the AP
• Updated: Dan Gillmor: Google Now Officially Competing with Newspapers; So is AP
• Updated: Jeff Jarvis: Link v. read
• Updated: Mathew Ingram: Google and the wires torpedo newspapers
• Updated: Tony Hung: Google News Vindicates Conspiracy Theorists: To (Re)Publish and Host News!
• Updated: Donna Bogatin: GOOGLE MEDIA: One-Stop News Empire for Stories, Videos AND Letters to the Google Editor
• Updated: Doug Fisher: Common Sense Journalism
• Updated: Andy Dickinson: Google+Agencies= return to good content?
• Updated: Forbes: Google Begins Hosting News on Its Site
• Updated: Alfred Hermida: Google takes another bite out of online news
• Updated: Scott Karp: Google News Hosting Wire Service Stories Diminishes Value Of Duplicate Content
• Updated: Howard Weaver Google hosting wire stories
• Updated: Shane Richmond: Google News prods newspapers towards the future
• Updated: John Battalle: Google Hosting News: This Is A Big Deal, Announced Quietly
• Updated: Cory Bergman: Time to rethink the AP model?
• Updated: Ryan Sholin: All I'm going to say about the Google/AP thing