PALO ALTO, Calif. - Internet search engine Topix.net and The Associated Press are teaming up in an attempt to send more visitors to newspaper sites responsible for breaking stories that are picked up across the Web.
As part of a 15-month agreement to be announced Tuesday, the AP will identify the stories that local papers contribute to the news cooperative so Topix's search engine can do a better job displaying links to the original source material.
"AP and its members need to be actively engaged with the changing dynamics of the Internet," said Tom Curley, the AP's president and chief executive.
Any newspaper that doesn't want to participate in the program can opt out.
Topix, a Palo Alto-based company controlled by three major newspaper publishers, is attempting to address a common complaint among newspapers that feed the AP with revenue as well as stories.
The indexes of Internet search engines routinely list the identical story appearing on multiple Web sites. That's convenient for Web surfers, but frustrating for newspaper sites reporting stories that are rewritten and widely distributed by the AP.
Picking up the top stories from its member newspapers is one of AP's missions.
Topix is controlled by Gannett Co., Knight Ridder Inc. and Tribune Co., which own a combined 75 percent stake in the company.
Despite those connections, Topix lags well behind the Internet's most popular news sources.
Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news)'s site is the top news destination, attracting 25.7 million unique U.S. visitors in April, followed by CNN at 23.7 million visitors and MSNBC at 23.2 million, according to research firm Nielsen/NetRatings Inc.
The AP's site ranked 18th in the current events and global news category with 6.1 million unique visitors in April while Topix ranked 29th at 2.7 million visitors, Nielsen/NetRatings said.
