Both.

As noted by Publishing 2.0 and Scott Karp, publishing news wire stories has become meaningless in the Internet age. Why would newspapers carry the same story that can be accessed anywhere? (That only holds true if one assumes that the print edition is no longer read at all, which is still far from being the case.)

In addition, this agreement rewards news agencies for their newsgathering and fits into Google’s fight against duplicate content.

“This agreement with multiple news agencies shows Google’s recognition of their quality work and the originality of their view on the world,” said the director of the Agence France Presse, Pierre Louette.

So what are the negative aspects of this?

The new policy will have a double effect, by “facilitating access towards the world’s factual news and inciting users to navigate towards other media sites, such as analysis and opinion” websites, added Louette.

This may be the real trouble caused by the agreement, as it tends to split news agencies and newspapers. By compensating the news agencies and decreasing traffic to newspapers, news agencies run the risk of being considered as rivals by the members who pay for their existence.

“The original wire service article is likely to be featured in Google News instead of versions of the same article from newspaper customers, sapping ad revenue to those newspapers,” read Google’s announcement of the deal.

On the other hand, as noted by William Hartnett, reporter at the Palm Beach Post, the traffic to local papers generated by wire stories is minimal and doesn’t typically bring quality readers in to a website.

Yet, as Louette’s words unconsciously portend, Google News’ partnership with news agencies could increasingly push newspapers to carry opinion and analysis rather than hard news (other than local).

It’s also unclear how the Google News engine will distinguish wire stories from wire-inspired stories with a local touch.

Any thoughts?

One thing is sure: “Google used to be ALL about sending you elsewhere — but now Google may be shifting its focus to keep you on Google,” concluded Karp.

Source: Publishing 2.0 - Nouvel Observateur through IFRA Executive News Service – William Hartnett