Google puts news reports on its site instead of linking

Internet search leader Google Inc. on Friday began hosting material produced by the Associated Press and three other news services on its own website instead of only sending readers to other destinations.

The change affects hundreds of stories and photographs distributed each day by the AP, Agence France-Presse, the Press Assn. in Britain and the Canadian Press. It could diminish traffic to other media sites where those stories and photos also are found -- a development that could reduce the online ad revenue of newspapers and broadcasters.

Google negotiated licensing deals with the AP and the French news agency during the last two years after the services raised concerns about whether the search engine had been infringing their copyrights. Mountain View, Calif.-based Google reached licensing agreements with the Press Assn. and the Canadian Press during the same period. Financial terms of those deals haven’t been disclosed.

The new approach doesn’t change the look of Google News or affect the way the section treats material produced by other media.

Although Google had bought the right to display content produced by all four news services, the search engine’s news section had continued to link to other websites to give viewers access to stories and photographs.