Google is continuing to do more than it probably has to in order to appease the dying newspaper industry, though its efforts have largely gone unnoticed. About three months ago, Google revealed Fast Flip, an experimental tool designed to make browsing through articles from various online news sources fast and seamless while also hopefully generating some sort of revenue for the publishers and obviously itself. The company is now saying that the initial results are promising and that the program can be considered a success so far. It’s not taking it out of Google Labs just yet, but it is announcing the addition of another 24 publishers and 55 publications to Fast Flip.
“[S]o far our initial thesis has held up: If you make it easier to read news online, people will read more of it. Users have told us they like being able to browse content so quickly, and we’ve been pleased with the amount of time they have spent reading articles in Fast Flip,” Jack Hebert, software engineer at Google, wrote. “Today, we’re excited to be adding articles from another two dozen publishers representing more than 50 newspapers, magazines, web outlets, news wires and TV and radio broadcasters.”
The new publishers include Reuters, Tribune, The Huffington Post, Politico, and Fast Flip now has content… (read more)