Google gives news a new look with Fast Flip

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 15 Sep 2009 at 07:35

Google is offering an olive branch to news publishers with a new service that lets users flick through websites like the pages of a magazine.

Dubbed Fast Flip, the service allows readers to scan through large screen grabs of news websites, instead of relying on the headline and snippets currently provided by Google News.

That means instead of having to click through to each website to read a story, Fast Flip users can simply read the stories from the Google site. Mobile versions of the site for the iPhone and Android allow users to flip the pages using the touchscreen handsets.

In return for sacrificing valuable traffic to their websites, Google is sharing advertising revenue with the news providers, although the exact revenue split has not been disclosed.

Google has launched the service in partnership with 36, mainly US-based publishers, including the New York Times, Newsweek and The Washington Post, although the BBC is also providing British content.

The publishing industry faces many challenges today, and there is no magic bullet

Publishers have to agree to take part in the scheme, no doubt to head off further allegations that Google is stealing revenue from news publishers.

The relationship between Google and news publishers has become strained in recent months, with companies such as Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation accusing the search giant of profiteering from their journalism without contributing to their costs.

Google says innovations such as Fast Flip will help the under-fire publishers, who have been hit hard by the sharp decline in advertising revenue. "The publishing industry faces many challenges today, and there is no magic bullet," says Google's distinguished researcher, Krishna Bharat, on the Google blog.

"However, we believe that encouraging readers to read more news is a necessary part of the solution. We think Fast Flip could be one way to help, and we're looking to find other ways to help as well in the near future."

Google is also working on a micropayments system that will help publishers charge for news content.