This is a big change for mainstream media. Jeremy Kirk in ComputerWorld:

Google said Tuesday it is changing how it grants access to news stories through its search engine to give publishers more control over how much content people can see for free.

It’s all about the money. Prior to the change, internet users could click and read a news article for free when starting from the Google News page.

To avoid paying since there was no limit on free stories, users theoretically could go back to Google News and search for more premium content, effectively undermining the publisher’s revenues.

There’s no more free ride. Many mainstream news sites are locking down their content in a pay-per-view system because internet advertising does not bring in sufficient revenue to cover costs of lost advertising in print media.

Under the new changes, people will be able to obtain free access to participating sites’ premium content via Google a maximum of five times a day. The changes apply to searches done through both Google News and its regular Web search.

More changes to come.

It remains to be seen if Google’s new approach will temper some of the hostility of publishers. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch recently said he was considering not allowing Google to index any of the company’s publications, which include The Wall Street Journal and The Times. It was rumored News Corp. was working a deal to only allow Microsoft’s new search engine, Bing, to show the content.

‘Show the content’ if Microsoft pays for the exclusivity, of course.