Today we’re launching a new feature on Google News that will help you quickly and easily find original stories from news publishers -- including stories from some of the top news agencies in the world, such as the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, UK Press Association and the Canadian Press -- and go directly to the original source to read more.

Our goal has always been to offer users as many different perspectives on a story from as many different sources as possible, which is why we include thousands of sources from around the world in Google News. However, if many of those stories are actually the exact same article, it can end up burying those different perspectives. Enter “duplicate detection.” Duplicate detection means we’ll be able to display a better variety of sources with less duplication. Instead of 20 “different” articles (which actually used the exact same content), we'll show the definitive original copy and give credit to the original journalist. (We launched a similar feature in Sort-by-Date and got great feedback about it.) Of course, if you want to see all the duplicates on other publisher websites with additional analysis and context, they’re only a click away.

By removing duplicate articles from our results, we’ll be able to surface even more stories and viewpoints from journalists and publishers from around the world. This change will provide more room on Google News for publishers' most highly valued content: original content. Previously, some of this content could be harder to find on Google News, and as a result of this change, you'll have easier access to more of this content, and publishers will likely receive more traffic to their original content.

Because the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, UK Press Association and the Canadian Press don't have a consumer website where they publish their content, they have not been able to benefit from the traffic that Google News drives to other publishers. As a result, we’re hosting it on Google News.

Duplicate detection isn't just for our news agency partners -- it also enables you to find the original copy of articles from publishers and news agencies that have their own destination site. For these publishers, we’ll continue to show just a snippet of the story and a link, so you can read the full story on their site.

We hope you agree this will improve your Google News experience. As always, we welcome your feedback: http://www.google.com/support/news/bin/request.py?ctx=answer

Source: Official Blog from the team at Google News

Need Some Cash? Sue Google! Everyone Else Is Doing It

To the victor belong the spoils — and the lawsuits. With its $150 billion market cap, Google has become a prime target of the litigious, and we're not just talking about Viacom's billion-dollar YouTube assault. Claiming everything from patent, trademark, and copyright infringement to fraud, dozens of companies have decided that the time is right to cash in by hitting Google with a barrage of lawsuits. Do any have a case? You be the judge.

Perfect 10
Nudes purveyor Perfect 10 realized people could get free thumbnails of its pinups by typing "Perfect 10" into Google. Tiny free porn? That won't stand. So the company went to court. Now a judge is also considering whether Google is liable for linking to pilfered Perfect pics on competing sites.

Universal Tube and Rollform
Less than a month after Google bought YouTube, Universal Tube and Rollform Equipment Corporation suddenly discovered it had grounds for legal action. The complaint: trademark infringement and "nuisance traffic" due to the similarities between utube.com and YouTube.com.

iLor
The same day this Kentucky software firm scored its second patent for "enhanced hyperlinks" (which show multiple options when you roll a cursor over them), it ran off to the courthouse. Good idea: It at least got Google into negotiations.

American Blind & Wallpaper
It seems the competitors of American Blind & Wallpaper purchased the company's trademarked name in Google's AdWords program. Suddenly searches for American Blind & Wallpaper turned up lesser products. The horror! In April, a district court judge ruled Google would face a jury trial for alleged trademark infringement.

Intertainer
Even though it closed up shop five years ago, Intertainer somehow came out of retirement in January to sue Google, Apple, and Napster for infringing on its patent for... wait for it... delivering digital video and music over the Internet. It may seem absurd, but Intertainer got a settlement out of Movielink in March.

Source: wired.com