It was a key part in Google's attempt to organise the world's information – but the search giant has abandoned its ambitious plan to digitise hundreds of years of newspaper archives and make them available online. After scanning millions of pages from more than 2,000 newspapers, Google has called time on its five-year-old plan, focusing instead on helping publishers make money from the internet. Google's digitisation effort began with the New York Times and Washington Post in 2006, but expanded two years later to include hundreds of newspaper partners spanning more than 200 years. The company insisted the change of plan is not due to copyright issues. Google is now shifting its resources to helping publishers charge for new online content. In February, Google launched a payment platform for newspaper websites, dubbed One Pass. It is not clear how many publishers plan to use Google's payment system. Its launch was prompted by Apple's rival payment plan and with online a small number of partners, including the Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers.
http://www.ejc.net/media_news/google_ditches_newspaper_archive_plan/
