15 September 2009 | Author: D. Warburton Search Copywriter
Google is advancing ever closer to news provider status with the introduction of Fast Flip, a new feature which aims to make it easier to read newspaper and magazine articles online.
Google Fast Flip imitates a physical magazine by presenting users with pages of news content from various publishers that readers can speedily flip through without having to endure page loading times. The New York Times reports that this endeavour will be financed by the placement of ads around the news articles, and the revenue shared with publishers.
The Mountain View king has long been a thorn in the side of many media organisations, with its Google News service being viewed as a mixed blessing by some traditional newspaper publishers who believe that hosting their content on Google reduces visits to their own site, despite evidence to the contrary that readers are far more likely to visit third party sites through their Google News articles.
Google has strived to make peace with the news industry through measures such as the proposed introduction of micropayments for news content accessed online, and this latest innovation of Fast Flip aims to bring online news content closer to the physical experience of a newspaper, which Google believes will appeal to traditionally minded readers and encourage more users to access news content online.
Google News developer Krishna Bharat explains the thinking behind Fast Flip, stating: "Browsing news on the Web is much slower than it is in print.
"When it is fast, people will look at more news and more ads, and that's something that publishers want to see."
A number of major news organisations have already signed up to Fast Flip, including BBC News, the New York Times, Newsweek and the Washington Post, and the service will also host content from magazines such as Cosmopolitan and exclusive online publications like TechCrunch.
The experimental news hub was introduced on Monday, and presents readers with a series of news article images arranged into categories, with quick flipping available between images. It remains to be seen whether Fast Flip can provide a solution to the falling advertising revenue that is the major affliction on many news organisations.
Google's Fast Flip - an online page turner
Google is advancing ever closer to news provider status with the introduction of Fast Flip, a new feature which aims to make it easier to read newspaper and magazine articles online.Google Fast Flip imitates a physical magazine by presenting users with pages of news content from various publishers that readers can speedily flip through without having to endure page loading times. The New York Times reports that this endeavour will be financed by the placement of ads around the news articles, and the revenue shared with publishers.
The Mountain View king has long been a thorn in the side of many media organisations, with its Google News service being viewed as a mixed blessing by some traditional newspaper publishers who believe that hosting their content on Google reduces visits to their own site, despite evidence to the contrary that readers are far more likely to visit third party sites through their Google News articles.
Google has strived to make peace with the news industry through measures such as the proposed introduction of micropayments for news content accessed online, and this latest innovation of Fast Flip aims to bring online news content closer to the physical experience of a newspaper, which Google believes will appeal to traditionally minded readers and encourage more users to access news content online.
Google News developer Krishna Bharat explains the thinking behind Fast Flip, stating: "Browsing news on the Web is much slower than it is in print.
"When it is fast, people will look at more news and more ads, and that's something that publishers want to see."
A number of major news organisations have already signed up to Fast Flip, including BBC News, the New York Times, Newsweek and the Washington Post, and the service will also host content from magazines such as Cosmopolitan and exclusive online publications like TechCrunch.
The experimental news hub was introduced on Monday, and presents readers with a series of news article images arranged into categories, with quick flipping available between images. It remains to be seen whether Fast Flip can provide a solution to the falling advertising revenue that is the major affliction on many news organisations.
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