Old newspapers are still good news for Google

It seems that Google has launched several new services that coincide with the 10th anniversary of its launch . Not content to index all information on the trillion pages of the web , it now plans to index old news archives and make them available via its News Archive Search. This service, a partnership with over 100 newspapers, allows you to view full scanned versions of old fish & chip wrappers that have so-far not been searchable.

A technolgoy adopted from Google Books, this now creates a rich historic resource that theoretically takes the leg-work out of visiting the library and trawling through sheets of micro-fische.


So how useful if this service right now?

Clearly USA-orientated, perhaps it needs to broaden its reach of free resources to be of any use to those on a budget in the UK (e.g. everyone now). For example, conducting a search for one of my journalistic heros, Chapman Pincher (the Daily Express defence correspondent who was most critical of the 1970's Labour Government and the Secret Service at the time) reveals only recent articles or resources that require payment and subscription.

Punit Soni, Google Product Manager's takes more time in his blog posting to explain the service.