Archive notice: This article was originally published on September 5, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
«As part of so-called duplicate detection, we now see quickly and reliably whether media have picked up a news-agency report. In future, our users will be able to look at
the original source in full on Google as well.»
Controlled by a computer algorithm, Google News compiles an online news overview and presents the headlines and occasionally the lead sentences from articles found on the web. Users who want to read the entire article are directed via a link to the source on the web. Large news sites of daily newspapers in Germany obtain in some cases around one third of their «traffic» through Google News links. Because agencies such as AP or AFP do not provide the news on their own website for Internet users, Google takes over the hosting of the original agency report in these cases.
«This approach not only improves the quality of our site for the user, but also correctly points to the hard work of the journalists and publishers who published a news item first.» Duplicate detection is not limited to material from news agencies, but can also be transferred to other media houses. Publishers that operate their own news offering on the web benefit from Google News directing users to them. The news agencies AP and AFP had disputed with Google for years over copyright in agency reports and images and eventually agreed on a licensing model for use of the content. Google also declined to disclose details of the licensing agreements on Friday. Cohen emphasized that his company did not want to place advertising on the Google News pages in the future either.
