Google To Host Associated Press Content And Others

Google says it has extended its existing licensing agreement with the Associated Press and other press associations so it can now host its content on Google properties such as Google News.

In a blog post, Google Senior Business Product Manager Josh Cohen, because the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse, UK Press Association and the Canadian Press don't have a consumer website where they publish their content, they have not been able to benefit from the traffic that Google News drives to other publishers.

"As a result, we’re hosting it on Google News," he said.

Mr Cohen said he looked forward to future collaborations, including on ways Google and AP can work together to create a better user experience and new revenue opportunities.

Google also announced it was launching a new feature on Google News to help news junkies quickly and easily find original stories from news publishers. It will include stories from some of the top news agencies in the world, such as the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, UK Press Association and the Canadian Press.

"Our goal has always been to offer users as many different perspectives on a story from as many different sources as possible, which is why we include thousands of sources from around the world in Google News.

"However, if many of those stories are actually the exact same article, it can end up burying those different perspectives. Enter “duplicate detection.” Duplicate detection means we’ll be able to display a better variety of sources with less duplication. Instead of 20 “different” articles (which actually used the exact same content), we'll show the definitive original copy and give credit to the original journalist," he said.

Mr Cohen said by removing duplicate articles from the results, Google will be able to surface even more stories and viewpoints from journalists and publishers from around the world.

"This change will provide more room on Google News for publishers' most highly valued content: original content. Previously, some of this content could be harder to find on Google News, and as a result of this change, you'll have easier access to more of this content, and publishers will likely receive more traffic to their original content," he said.

(C) NewsRoom America 2010