Google News has done more to kill newspapers than just about any other web site in the world. So it’s interesting to hear a report that Google plans to release a micro-payment system that will link to paid newspaper content directly from search results.
Word of the move comes out of Italy, where the Italian newspaper La Repubblica is reporting that Google has been contacting Italian newspapers about the new service, which will be released later this year. The move may be in response to antitrust activity aimed at Google by Italian authorities. The move, however, offers global newspaper industry.
The system would combine paid and unpaid results when a user does a search on Google. If a user selects the paid content, they are charged via Google Checkout.
Attempts to create paid content on the web have been gaining steam, with the Wall Street Journal and the NY Times moving toward subscription based content. Most newspapers, however, create so little content that cannot be gathered through other sources. The result is users simply finding their information through other online resources.