Friday, August 31, 2007

Google News Now Hosting AP Stories

Google Begins Hosting AP Stories on Its Site "Internet search leader Google Inc. on Friday began hosting material produced by The Associated Press and three other news services on its own Web site instead of only sending readers to other destinations."

A quick look on my news summary page and I didn't find any google hosted stories. I searched for "mortgage" and found one and when I clicked on it I got a 404 error. Some bugs to be worked out still I guess.

The speculation is that this will hurt traffic to newspaper sites, which are for the most part already hurting. One firm says referrals from Google account for 2% of news site traffic. "For its part, the AP intends to work with Google to ensure readers find their way to breaking news stories on its members' Web sites, said Jane Seagrave, the AP's vice president of new media markets. 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."

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