Google unveils Fast Flip eReader

Google has reached a revenue sharing agreement with 36 newspaper and magazine publishers, including the New York Times, Newsweek and Marie Claire, in its trial of a new service that lets users read the web pages of magazines and newspapers as though they were hard copy.

Google’s Fast Flip, which is intended to replicate the experience of browsing through a hard publication, incorporates many aspects of the publications’ own layouts, including mastheads and illustrations. It lets users turn pages by clicking their mouse on a large arrow which, unlike standard web links, does not make users wait for a new page to load.

The search engine Fast Flip’s advertising shares revenue with the publishers, and although the percentage of revenue share is not known, the move signals a breakthrough for publishers who have previously been unable to share Google’s profits from their articles.

The newspaper industry’s ad sales plunged 29% during the first half this year while Google’s crept up 4%, The Age says.

Users can trial the service here.