Google Releases Newspaper Archive

Google has launched a search archive of 200 years worth of newspapers. From The New York Times:

“This symbolizes a major moment,” said Allen Weiner, a research director at Gartner, a market research firm. Google has reached an accommodation with the content companies that will benefit both sides, he said.”

What is interesting is how once again, a web company will launch a new product, built a massive audience, and then worry about how to monetize:

“Google executives said that the archive service would not generate revenue directly and that the company did not yet know how it would make money from it.”

Once the audience builds and people begin to rely on it, the number of ways to make money from it will be exponential.

Nick Carr shares some early experiences with the service:

“This a boon for researchers as well as for anyone looking to follow a subject back in time. In five minutes this morning, I found new source material on the early development of the business machines industry that I will be able to use in writing my next book.”

Reto Meier offers another take:

“It’s a really *really* useful sevice that lets you view articles on timelines to get a real sense for the flow and context of world news, giving current news articles an instant sense of history.”

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