September 3, 2007 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – A flurry of reports over the last few days have suggested that Google has started to host agency news on its website rather than directing visitors to news sites. The news Google is hosting is provided by the Canadian Press (CP), the Press Association in the United Kingdom, the Associated Press (AP) in the USA, and Agence France Presse (AFP). Reports suggest Google has bought the rights to display each agency’s news, although terms of the agreement were undisclosed. Some analysts suggest the move is a result of certain agencies threatening action against Google for infringement of copyright.
Although Google visitors looking for news will be given the option to visit external sources to read a news item, the fact that Google visitors will be able to read the item without leaving Google could have significant consequences for a number of websites whose content contains agency news. Sites might well experience a drop in the number of visitors they receive and in turn, might not be able to generate the same levels of advertising revenue. It would also seem likely though that less news agency licenses will be bought in future.
Eric Morrison, the President of CP, suggested in an item posted on the new Google news sub-domain, http://canadianpress.google.com/ that the outcome of the move is still unknown. “People will have to wait and see. The interesting thing for me is that now Google is actually paying for aggregating content from other providers." Mr. Morrison went on to suggest that the fees Google were paying would help maintain the quality of CP.
Google suggested that it is not changing its approach to allowing visitors to find news items, and materials provided by agencies will not be given priority in searches.
comScore Media Metrix suggests that Google’s news options are lagging behind competitors. In July 2007, Google News had 9.6 million visitors, Yahoo News 33.8 million visitors, MSNBC 24.5 million, AOL News 23.9 million and CNN 22.5 million.
