Throwing a lifeline to newspapers?
Jinfo Blog

16th September 2009

By Penny Crossland

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Google and print newspapers have been at loggerheads for some time, with publishers accusing the search engine Goliath and its ilk of contributing towards the demise of the industry. In April this year, the managing editor of the Wall Street Journal famously described online news aggregators as “parasites or tech tapeworms in the intestines of the internet“ (http://digbig.com/5bahbk). Now it would seem that Google is offering newspapers a solution that could help generate much needed online revenue. Now Google Labs (http://www.google.labs) has announced a new experiment, Google Fast Flip (http://www.fastflip.googlelabs.com), intended to offer online news consumers a new reading experience by introducing the concept of „serendipitous browsing“ to the internet. Google believes that the fast reading experience will lead users to click through to more publishers, thereby providing them with more revenue through contextually relevant ads. Fast Flip allows readers to quickly read through content, like flicking through a magazine, before deciding which article to read in full. Clicking on the article takes you through to the publisher’s website. Readers can browse through stories which have been pre-selected based on most recent or most viewed topics, but can also search by topic or keyword. So far, around 40 publishers newspapers, magazine and websites - all US-based bar BBC News - have signed up to the service, including heavyweights such as the Washington Post, the New York Times and Business Week. It is currently not possible to add own feeds or customize the Fast Flip home page, in fact the service does the customization for the user by watching the type of content used and presenting similar content either by topic, author or source. Will Fast Flip take off? The service is certainly a novel way of presenting online content. It turns browsing into a visual experience, which is the way search seems to be moving. Some reviewers have commented that it is more suited as an iphone or Android application ( a mobile application is available) and that it’s chief aim is to boost Google’s image in the publishing world. Other commentators have said that at least Google is coming up with ideas, which is more than the print publishers are doing (http://digbig.com/5bahap). The battle between online and print is set to continue...

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