Google Fast Flip promises to turn web into giant magazine

15 September 2009 0:23 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Google has launched a new GoogleLabs product called Fast Flip that promises to bring a more magazine feel to the web.

The new service will allow people to flick through a number of publications quickly like a magazine, rather than waiting for individual pages to load.

"Speed is a problem on the web" said Google as it demoed its new product at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco.

Google says it has partnered with three dozen top publishers, including the New York Times, the BBC, Salon and Newsweek with the premise to bring on more publishers if the new offering is successful.

"One problem with reading news online today is that browsing can be really slow. A media-rich page loads dozens of files and can take as much as 10 seconds to load over broadband, which can be frustrating. What we need instead is a way to flip through articles really fast without unnatural delays, just as we can in print. The flow should feel seamless and let you rapidly flip forward to the content you like, without the constant wait for things to load. Imagine taking 10 seconds to turn the page of a print magazine!", said Google.

Google is also promising to personalise the experience for you, by taking cues from selections you make to show you more content from sources, topics and journalists that you seem to like.

"You get fast browsing, natural magazine-style navigation, recommendations from friends and other members of the community and a selection of content that is serendipitous and personalized", said Krishna Bharat a distinguished researcher at Google News.

Google, realising it has created a system that can be viewed with a low speed internet connection, has also created a mobile version for Apple's iPhone and its own Android OS.

Google says publishers will get a share of adverts displayed around the content.