Google news strikes hidden deal with UK news groups, begs the question: What’s a headline-plus-blurb worth?

INTERNET SEARCH engine Google is understood to have reached deals with several large UK news groups over carrying their content on Google News.

The deals are reputedly being kept strictly secret for fear that Google will end up having to pay for similar licences with all of the 4500 news services it carries on its news aggregator.

How is Google News’ page different than a well-organized and filtered collection of RSS feeds from news sites? Audience size. What does this mean? Not much, ‘cept that other news companies will surely be readying their knuckles for some lawyered-up knock-knock-knocking on Google’s door.

I wonder if this will inspire news orgs to renegotiate their AP contracts as well…

» Read the full article here

(via Fading to Black)

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