Google Hosts Agency News

Four major press agencies have signed an agreement with Google to have their articles hosted by its news site.

Stories produced by the UK’s Press Association, the Associated Press in the US, the Canadian Press and Agence France-Presse can now be viewed on Google News in their original form.

According to its News Blog, Google states that it has decided to host stories from the agencies as they do not have their own consumer websites on which content can be published.

In addition, the global online organization claims that the move will enable users to find original sources quickly and will avoid search results offering multiple versions of the same article.

“By removing duplicate articles from our results, we’ll be able to surface even more stories and viewpoints from journalists and publishers from around the world,” asserts Google.

“Duplicate detection isn’t just for our news agency partners - it also enables you to find the original copy of articles from publishers and news agencies that have their own destination site.”

Reactions to the deal can be found at a variety of online sources, including Media Week, Guardian Unlimited and the New York Times.