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Google’s plans to help prop up the flagging newspaper publishing industry include building paywall and subscription management tools, co-founder Larry Page has explained.

Speaking at Zeitgeist Europe, Page said that the newspaper and magazine industries have struggled to transfer the three revenue streams – advertising, subscription and transaction – into the online space.

“There is more potential in subscription than there has been,” said Page. “If you look back in history, magazines have all three models in place… A healthy model is going to have revenue from all those areas.”

He said while books had not historically run ads, online Google “already sort of does that. I think it makes sense in areas where it doesn’t make sense in the traditional world.”

Given that there is no cost to copying and distributing online, said Page, publishers should aim for ‘limitless’ distribution.

“You don’t want models that restrict usage if you can avoid it. In general, having a subscription model where things are bundled together [is better],” he said.

“If they don’t have to think [how much they are spending] people will consume more and that has to be good for content producers too. The cost to make content is fixed, so once you make content you want as many people to use it as possible and maximise the amount of money you can make.”

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt emphasised that the firm “is a platform, not a competitor” and said it has been talking to news organisations, including Rupert Murdoch‘s News International, for months.

More … http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/may/19/google-newspapers

Source: What’s new in publishing