• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, April 11, 2008

AOL users will be able to sign up for news alerts and other features from USA Today via instant message in yet another content-sharing deal connecting newspapers and major online players.

Using the new service created by InfiniteAgent, AOL AIM users can search the paper's current and past headlines through instant messages simply by sending a word or collection of words in the AIM dialogue window. With the same method, they can also arrange to receive news alerts whenever a headline containing one or more of their keywords is published.

The USA Today-AOL content-sharing deal is just the latest in a series of partnerships between newspaper publishers and online portals, with newspapers seeking more brand exposure from news aggregators, and online portals leveraging the appeal of local news content.

In the most prominent example, in November 2006, Yahoo launched a newspaper consortium that now includes over 600 newspaper partners, with the dual purpose of sharing content and advertising. Recently, Yahoo announced it will use the group as a platform to launch a new ad service, APEX, that will allow publishers more control and flexibility in online ad sales. APEX is supposed to launch sometime in the third or fourth quarter of 2008.

For its part, Gannett--the publisher of USA Today--has been pushing its newspaper content to consumers via a number of new channels, including mobile devices. In August 2007, the company launched mobile sites for over 100 newspapers and related Web properties around the country, delivering breaking news, sports, and weather while opening up new opportunities for mobile advertising.

Last year, Gannett also bought a stake in Text4Info, which allows mobile users to search for local businesses via SMS codes.