Search engine giant Google (google.com) recently announced that it is now hosting material produced by The Associated Press (ap.org) and three other news organizations on its own Web site rather than directing readers to other Web sites. The change affects hundreds of articles and images distributed daily by the AP, Agence France-Presse (afp.com), UK-based The Press Association (pressassociation.co.uk) and The Canadian Press (cp.org). It could potentially lessen Internet traffic to other media sites where those articles and images are also found, which could then in turn reduce the online advertising revenue of newspapers and broadcasters.

During the past two years, Google negotiated licensing deals with the AP and French news agency after the services raised concerns about whether the search engine had been infringing on their copyrights, as well as reached licensing agreements with The Press Association and The Canadian Press.

The new approach does not affect the appearance of Google News or influence the way the service handles material produced by other media. Google visitors who look for an AP article will now remain on the Google Web site unless they click on a provided link that directs them to another Web site where they can read the same story. So far, the search engine says it has no immediate plans to place ads alongside the news hosted on its site.