AP Stories Return to Google News As Mysteriously As They Vanished

It looks like Google and the AP(Associated Press) are on speaking terms again though none of them are what you'd call 'talkative'. AP news stories have started showing up on Google News again after seven weeks of radio silence. Google has had an agreement with AP to host news stories on Google News itself, but it expired last month. Google had stopped adding new stories ahead of the deadline without much of an explanation. Today's resurgence was quite equally and AP content is now coming in again, but if it means the two parties have reached a new deal or that the talks are progressing is anyone's guess.

The move comes with a lengthy back-story as the two companies haven't usually seen eye to eye that often, at least not publicly. The AP has been accusing Google of 'stealing' its content for years, along with just about everyone else on the web, and has been very vocal about its displeasure. Behind the curtains though, the AP has been more than happy to take Google's money in return for hosting its reports on Google News, to the detriment of its many partners in the US.

Google on the other hand has been adamant in its stance that it is clearly providing a benefit to news organizations and that they are free to block its search engine or news aggregator from accessing their content if they so desire.

Tensions rose when Google quietly stopped posting new stories from AP in late December 2009. The most likely reason was the, then upcoming, deadline in the agreement between the two. The deadline came and passed with no signs coming from either parties that things were moving. Meanwhile, Yahoo announced its new license agreement with AP last week.

When asked to comment on this latest move by the WSJ, Google responded with the same statement it has been issuing for weeks now on the matter: "We have a licensing agreement with the Associated Press that permits us to host its content on Google properties such as Google News. The licensing agreement is the subject of ongoing discussion so we won’t be commenting further at this time." The AP had nothing further to add. The most likely state of events is that the parties haven't reached a new deal and that this is just another part of the negotiations, but this is purely speculation.