• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, December 2, 2009

In a move intended to conciliate newspaper publishers, Google will limit the number of pieces of paid content that can be accessed for free from its search results.

This change should help buttress the online revenues of publishers that decide to erect pay walls around some of their content. It may help Google retain access to content that some publishers have threatened to block from being indexed by the search giant.

According to a post on a blog maintained by Josh Cohen, Google's senior business product manager, Google will offer publishers of paid content the option to cap the number of articles that can be viewed for free by Google searchers at five items per day.

Thus, someone who happens across an article in a Google search would be able to view that article for free, as well as four others from the same publisher if they also navigate to them through Google searches. However, after the fifth article, they may find paid content blocked, requiring them to register to see more.

In effect, the change in Google's policy closes a widely known loophole that allowed Google users to access paid content for free.

Typically, a visitor to a Web site that charges for content might be able to view one full article for free as an enticement, but then be asked to register and submit payment information before viewing other articles. Many publishers also allowed free viewing of one article to users who arrived at their Web sites via Google, in the hopes of catching more Web traffic from the search engine, which would then be monetized through registration.

But Google users soon discovered that by returning to Google and searching for a particular piece of paid content, they could use the free pass -- intended for just one viewing -- for multiple views.

Recently, Google has faced criticism from newspaper publishers that claim the search giant profits from their content with no benefit to them, including News Corp. boss Rupert Murdoch. Together with other newspaper executives, he is threatening to block Google from indexing their content altogether.

In the past, Google has countered that it boosts exposure for their content and directs more traffic to newspaper Web sites; however, publishers now have the option of transferring access to Bing, a competing search engine recently introduced by Microsoft. Cohen wrote that Google can still index the promotional blurbs for paid content -- typically no more than a paragraph summarizing the contents.

On Tuesday, Murdoch outlined his grievances in testimony to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, noting: "Technology makes it cheap and easy to distribute news for anyone with Internet access, but producing journalism is expensive." He added: "Right now, there is a huge gap in costs."