"In today's complex world, there's a reality that you have to deal with and certainly there's elements of Google that we and others would find perhaps threatening," he said.

"But on the other hand Google is a major player in this marketplace and we see many more upsides to the relationship than threats.

"The reality is Google here is a company that can deliver big business to Fairfax Digital, it's a company that we'd like to do more business with and it's not dissimilar to the way newspapers might historically look at online."

Fairfax’s news outlets will now also feature Google’s mapping service, and Fairfax is aiming to deliver more news content and information to Google Video.

Is this partnership, as claims the Sydney Morning Herald’s headline, going to “take online to the next stage?”

Source: Sydney Morning Herald through I Want Media