Reuters reported today that Google has entered into a licensing deal which will pay major news services like the Associated Press for the right to publish their articles and content on Google News. This benefits the AP, because now they have an additional source of revenue (for now). And Google News readers have the benefit of seeing these articles once, and not the additional 147 links to the same article published in as many different publications.
This is no different than the New York Times or Rocky Mountain News paying AP for the right to distribute their content on their Web and print pages. Which essentially makes Google an official news outlet, as of today. Perhaps they don't have an editorial board to decide what does and does not get printed, or what might be in the best interest of their readers - services that have made newspapers the voice of communities, cities, organizations and nations, and the Fourth Estate - but they do have a highly-trafficked site, and are already considered to be a "source" of news, even when they are really just an aggregator.
Many people have predicted this is the future of the news, newspapers, and news services, but this licensing deal is the first true sign, in my opinion, that this prophecy is actually being fulfilled.
So, if I can get all my AP, Agence France-Presse, etc news from Google, I have yet another reason not to read my local newspaper (Craigslist trumped the classifieds years ago). And if I, and others like me, stop reading the local paper and their Web site, they lose revenue and go out of business. Which means fewer outlets buying AP newsfeeds. Which means less revenue for AP, who then faces the risk of shutting down.
If that happens, then who will report the news, and who will pay them? I hear Rupert Murdoch waiting in the wings (if one can hear such things).
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